Government of Yukon researchers collected 238 soil and plant samples from three reclaimed gold mine properties in Yukon First Nations territories. The project examined total, inorganic, and organic arsenic concentrations in nine ethnobotanical species using ICP-MS and AAS instrumentation. Findings indicate low arsenic uptake in berries but elevated concentrations in lichen, mushrooms, and medicinal shrubs near point sources.
Use Cases
- Assessing arsenic contamination risk for foraging animals based on soil and plant concentration data
- Evaluating the safety of ethnobotanical species for consumption based on arsenic concentration measurements
- Monitoring the effectiveness of mine reclamation practices based on arsenic levels at varying distances from point sources
- Comparing inorganic vs. organic arsenic uptake in plants across different species and sites
Strengths
- 238 soil and plant samples provide a substantial sample size for analysis
- Data includes arsenic concentrations for nine distinct ethnobotanical species
- Samples were collected from three mine properties at point sources, intermediate distances (1-3 km), and background sites
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
Provenance
- Source
- Government of Yukon
- Collection Method
- Samples collected from Mt. Nansen, Arctic Gold and Silver, and Venus Mine tailing properties, with analysis via ICP-MS and AAS.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-04-17 15:41:19.089362; freshness should be verified
- Geography
- Traditional territories of Little Salmon/Carmacks and Carcross/Tagish First Nations in Yukon, Canada.