Great Lakes ecosystem

Eisenreich SJ, Looney BB, Thornton JD. 1981. Airborne organic contaminants in the Great Lakes ecosystem. Environmental Science and Technology 15 30-38. 

Hallett, D.J., Brecher, R.W. (1984) Cycling of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons in the Great Lakes ecosystem. In Toxic Contaminants in the Great Lakes. Advances in Environment Sciences and Technology. Nriagu, J.O., Simmons, M.S., Editors, John Wiley Sons, New York, New York. pp. 213-237. 

Great Lakes Water Quality Board. 1983. An inventory of chemical substances identified in the Great Lakes ecosystem. Vol. 1. Summary Report to the Great Lakes Water Quality Board. Windsor Ontario, Canada 195. 

Somewhat similar levels in air, between 0.5 and 5 ng/m (mean, 2 ng/m ) of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate have been found in the Great Lakes ecosystem (Canada and United States). The concentration of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate in precipitation ranged from 4 to 10 ng/L (mean, 6 ng/L). Atmospheric fluxes to the Great Lakes are a combination of dry and wet removal processes. The total deposition of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate into Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario was estimated to amount to 16, 11, 12, 5.0 and 3.7 tonnes per year, respectively (Eisenreich et al., 1981). 

This book brings together what is known about the major classes of these persistent organic pollutants (the so-called POPs). Each chapter reviews our knowledge of the extent of contamination of the various parts of the Great Lakes ecosystem (air, water, sediment, fishes, birds, etc.), what is known about the trends over time of this contamination, and information about the mechanisms by which these compounds are mobilized in the lakes. The following section presents abstracts of the contents of each chapter. 

PCBs have been documented to occur in nearly all trophic levels throughout the Great Lakes ecosystem [282], including bacteria (Hudson, unpub-... 

PAHs have been measured in several compartments of the Great Lakes Ecosystem. These include almost all media, but most information is available for air, precipitation and sediments. 

Mercury is an especially dangerous compound. Mercury levels have changed relatively little over the past two decades. Mercury is now used, in increasing quantities, in parts of the Amazon basin where prospectors pan for gold along small streams and tributaries. Atmospheric deposition is now a major source of mercury as well in the Great Lakes ecosystem. 

R. W. Flint and J. Vena, Human Health Risks from Chemical Exposure the Great Lakes Ecosystem, Lewis, Chelsea, MI, 1991. p. 27. 

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