Innovation Impact Report Simulated Earthworm Gut Dr. Steve Siciliano has a dream — build a new technology service industry in Saskatchewan, free up brownfield land for new development, and leave the earthworms in the ground, where they belong. Siciliano, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan, is being aided in making his dream a reality by a partnership with Communities of Tomorrow, Stantec Consulting Ltd. (Stantec), and the MITACS program. Siciliano, to his knowledge, is the only academic soil toxicologist in Canada. He is developing a new kind of laboratory testing to determine the level of contamination in soils, called the Simulated Earthworm Gut test. It is being developed to supplement the existing technology in this field, which is time consuming and expensive live animal testing. This new technology uses the digestive processes of earthworms to determine the degree of toxicity in soil samples. This testing is critical to the practise of risk assessment, which determines the liability of landowners for soil pollution, and the potential cost of cleaning it up. “The SEG test indicates the relative risk to ecological receptors and reflects soil quality. Soil quality is critical as humans, animals, and ecosystem services are impacted when degradation of soil quality occurs,” notes Dr. Siciliano. “Quicker and more accurate safety testing reduces costs and speeds up business development.” Thanks to consultation and funding from Communities of Tomorrow, the project was able to more than double the original funding and expand to include three graduate students. Siciliano and his research group are investigating the effectiveness of their new testing protocol for Communities of Tomorrow is positioning Saskatchewan as a leader in the field of municipal infrastructure innovation by developing Canada’s first infrastructure innovation hub. Through collaboration with industry firms, municipalities and various stakeholders, CT is transforming infrastructure ideas into practical solutions for the growing multi-trillion dollar world infrastructure market. communitiesoftomorrow.ca soils polluted with diesel or other hydrocarbons. It has been demonstrated to be effective for assessing soils contaminated with metals. The simulated earthworm test can save a company over fifty percent of the current cost of soil toxicity testing. With a successful outcome, Stantec will employ this new technology to expand its risk assessment activity in Saskatchewan. Steve Siciliano and the University of Saskatchewan will train students so that more risk assessment can happen right here in Saskatchewan. And all those earthworms can stay where they belong. “Environmental liability should never stop economic growth — it just needs to be a cost associated with doing business. Our job is to reduce that cost so that more business can happen.” Dr. Steve Siciliano, University of Saskatchewan • The sim ulated eart hworm gu faster tha t test is n other tes ting metho and can s ds ave a com pany ove fifty perc r ent of the current co soil toxicit st of y testing. • If appro ved by reg ulatory ag the simula encies, ted earthw orm gut techn ology will aid in the r assessm apid ent of the e x te associated nt and ris k with a con taminated site. • The lead er of Stan tec’s Envir mental Re on mediation Practice fo western C r anada is lo cated in Saskatoon . Expandin g Stantec risk asse ’s ssment c apabilitie Saskatche s in wan will further strengthen their local Environm Remediati ental on group. Support provided by: