​During his government career he planned, conducted, and reported on phytotoxicology studies around dozens of pollution sources, including aluminum, base metal and uranium smelters and refineries, foundries, fertilizer and glass manufacturers, brickyards, iron and steel mills, petrochemical refineries, municipal refuse and sewage incinerators, salt storage facilities and many other pollution sources that may impact the terrestrial environment. This experience and knowledge made Mr. McLaughlin a leading scientific advisor in the Ministry’s program of evaluating and risk managing the ecological and human health impacts in communities with landscape-scale environmental contamination from historic industrial emissions. In this role, he was a significant contributor to soil contaminant assessment projects for communities in the Ontario municipalities of Toronto, Mississauga, Deloro, Galetta, Wawa, Port Hope, Cornwall, Cobalt, Sudbury and Port Colborne.

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From 2006 to 2007 he was the science liaison for a team of government policy advisors that negotiated agreements on transboundary air pollution between Ontario and it’s American air-shed neighhbours of Michigan, New York and NESCAUM (North East States for Co-ordinated Air Use Management), and the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick.

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Dave McLaughlin completed his career with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment as the Assistant Director of the Ministry’s Environmental Monitoring and Reporting Branch, the Ontario government’s premier environmental science Branch responsible for more than 40 ambient air, land and water monitoring programs across the province. In 2004 the Environmental Monitoring and Reporting Branch received the prestigious ECO Award from the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario in recognition of the importance of, and the commitment to, long term ambient environmental monitoring.

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​Dave McLaughlin is the author or editor of more than 300 government reports and 11 articles in peer reviewed scientific journals. In his more than 36-year government career Dave McLaughlin received considerable recognition for his integrity in working with community stakeholders and his comprehensive scientific knowledge. This recognition culminated in his receipt of three Emerald Awards, the Ministry of the Environment’s highest recognition for professional achievement, for his role in the Deloro, Sudbury and Port Colborne community-based soil risk assessments. In addition, he is also the recipient of an Amethyst Award, the Ontario Public Service’s highest recognition for professional achievement, for his role in stakeholder and community engagement for the cleanup and remediation of the province’s largest PCB storage facility at Pottersburg Creek in London, Ontario.

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Since establishing Cotyledon Environmental Dave McLaughlin has conducted more than 60 environmental assessments of properties in support of land development applications for government, private and corporate clients across Ontario.​