Professor of Chemistry, PhD (Queen’s University), B.Sc. (U. of Sci. and Tech. of China)

Department of Chemistry
Acadia University
6 University Avenue
Wolfville, Nova Scotia
Canada B4P 2R6

Office: Elliott Hall 304
Phone: (902) 585-1355
Fax: (902) 585-1114
Lab1: Elliott Hall 301
Email: Anthony.Tong@AcadiaU.ca

* CBC reported our work on pharmaceuticals in wastewater
* Taste of organic acids in wines on Youtube
* Our research is on the headline of Acadia University website
* Toasting a trace of analytic genius
* Our wastewater research is on Youtube
* Acadia’s Office of Industry & Community Engagement reported our compost leachate project

Estrogen Mimickers

Scientists at Acadia University hope their bioreactor is the solution to an emerging question:  how to stop traces of medications swallowed by Canadians and excreted into toilets from slipping through wastewater treatment plants and into streams, rivers and lakes.

• Drinking water contaminated by excreted drugs a growing concern
• Experimental Lakes study finds damage from birth control pills

“The municipal wastewater plant, they’re not designed to treat the pharmaceuticals,” says Anthony Tong, a professor of chemistry at the university. “That is the major concern here.”

 

Bay of Fundy Model

Hi, Bill

The project my Acadia research team conducted was on marine oil pollution along the coastline of the Bay of Fundy. Although the types of pollution are different, the concept and methods are similar. In my other studies, my team monitored water quality of over 20 municipal sewage outflows in Nova Scotia, including the Halifax area.  With some modifications, my research strategy can be applied to the water around the municipal outflows and greater area of Salish Sea. Here is a brief summary of my previous project for Bay of Fundy.

The Bay of Fundy is a popular fishing ground with the highest tides in the world. Lubricating waste oil from marine vessels and on-land discharges may pose risks to this marine environment. This project was designed to investigate the degree of oil contamination in the Bay of Fundy by measuring n-alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), two major classes of compounds in petroleum.

In this project, both high and low tidal water samples as well as sediment samples were collected at 20 sites along the coast of the Bay of Fundy. Oil pollution was found at most sites. The highest levels of total n-alkanes in water and sediment samples were found at Margaretville, NS and the Little River across from the Bayside Dr. in Saint John, NB. Although the enormous tide in the Bay of Fundy diluted oil pollution, differences between high and low tidal seawater samples were observed at some sites but not for averages of all sites.