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.
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