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Cause and Effect of Pollution in Lake Huron

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Eng115 Cause and effect draft | Cause And Effect Of Water Pollution In Lake Huron | Assignment 3.1 Determining Cause and Effects | Keimara Brooks | | 8/19/2012 | Dr.Gordon

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Introduction
The Great Lakes together form the world’s largest fresh water system. They supply a significant amount of the world’s fresh water supply. The great lakes are not only an important source of fresh water, these mast bodies of water also are known to be a home for many wildlife species. For many years the Great Lakes have served as a dumping ground for many harmful pollutants. From industrial waste and drain pipes to pesticides and fertilizer runoff s the Great Lakes are suffering. Damage of this kind produce harmful conditions for the fish, wildlife, and humans dwelling in the surrounding area of the region.
Sources of Pollution in the Great Lakes
Earlier age industrial companies, such as pulp and paper, operating near the Great Lakes region dumped waste including mercury into the water using pipes and/or vessels. Some of this polluting was done involuntarily with the malfunctioning of these pipes or vessels. Other times were intentional sticking to the theory that water “neutralizes” all substances.
Fecal matter was another strand of pollution found in later experiments performed on the water of the Great Lakes. The source of this pollutant was believed to be sewage. Sewage is known to house many bacteria including two of the most harmful, E.coli and enterococci (Liu et al 2006). Pollutants of this kind cause the water quality to decline and bacteria growth to increase (Shear 2006).
Other forms of pollutants that affect the Great lakes include air-bound, pesticide and fertilizer runoffs. These pollutants affect the Lakes involuntarily. These pollutants are deposited into the lakes by the inadvertency of the environment. By testing the tissues of fish and mussels found in the Great Lakes, the level of contaminate residing in the water can be determined (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease registry 2001). Lindane, Dieldrin, Toxaphene, and Chlor-diphhenyl-tichloroethane (DDT) are some of the main harmful substances found in the water (Agency for toxic Substances and Disease registry 1997). Toxaphene has been prohibited since1990 but traces still remain in the water.
Figure 1

These are the four pollutant concentrations in lake trout that we focused on, as seen in Lake Huron.

Figure 2

These are the four concentrations of pollutants compared to biomass. It is clear that when the concentrations of certain chemicals (like PCB and toxaphene) decrease, biomass increases.

Effects of Great Lake Pollution
Many of the pollutant in the lakes are harmful to the ecosystem in a variety of ways. There are many situations where, pollutants travel up the food chain and affect the animals feeding on the smaller organisms that ingest the chemical nutrients. The higher up the food chain, the more the pollutant residue accumulates. Eventually, humans ingest all of the pollutants of our food source and its food source as well. Walleye, mussels, and rainbow smelt are a few of the species at risk along with humans.
DDT, a common natural chemical from pesticides, has been known to be toxic to fish and fauna. The population of fish and other wildlife are in jeopardy with the levels of major algae bloom in the lakes. This bloom is caused by the deposits of fertilizers, phosphate detergents and pollutants containing important nutrients triggering the growth. High levels of these pollutants are found in the fish of the Great Lakes (Hickey et al 2005).
Sewage is another common type of pollution in the great lakes. E.coli and enterococcus were found in samples taken from Lake Michigan beaches in 2004 (Lui et al 2006). If ingested these strains of deadly bacteria can be fatal. It may cause serious illness such as typhoid fever (Shear 2006). It can also cause complications of intestinal diseases, parasites, and infections. In 2003 there were 32% increase in advisories and beach closings due to fecal matter pollution (Lui et al 2006).
Dieldrin found in the Great Lakes are not only hazardous to fish and wildlife, but humans as well. Along with many other repercussions it has been found to cause cancer in the human body (Michigan Department of Environmental Quality 2000).

Conclusion The United States government is dedicated to regulating and controlling chemicals and other harmful substances that could contaminate the Great Lakes. Passing laws such as the Clean Water Act, that recognize the importance of preservation of Americas water, the government is emphasizing the Great Lakes restoration progress. Levels of pollutants are decreasing but there are still significant concentrations of pollutants within the Great Lakes.

REFERENCES Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. ToxFAQs for Polychlorinated Biphenyls(PCBs). Feb 2001. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts17.html#bookmark02 (Oct. 23 2006)
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. ToxFAQs for Toxaphene. Sept. 1997. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts94.html (Oct. 23 2006)
Hickey, J.P., Batterman, S. A., and Chernyak, S. M. 2006 Trends of Chlorinated Organic Contaminants in Great Lakes Trout and Walleye from 1970 to 1998. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 50, 97-110
Liu, Lubo; Phanikumar, Mantha S.; Molloy, Stephanie L.; Whitman, Richard L.; Shivley, Dawn A.; Nevers, Meredith B.; Shwab, David J.; Rose, Joan B. 2006. Modeling the transport and Inactivation of E. coli and Enterococci in the Near-Shore Region of Lake Michigan. Environ. Sci. Technol. 40, 5022-5028
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. 1999. First Round of Environmental Bonds sold Over Internet for Clean Michigan Initiative. Office of Great Lakes Activity Report, Lansing, MI .
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. 1998. Great Lakes Trends : Into the New Millennium. Office of the Great Lakes, Lansing, MI .
Robertson, Andrew, and Lauenstein, Gunnar G. 1998. Distribution of Chlorinated Organic Contaminants in Dreissenid Mussels Along the Southern Shores of the Great Lakes . J. Great Lakes Res. 24(3): 608-619
Shear, Harvey . 2006. The Great Lakes , an Ecosystem Rehabilitated, but Still Under Threat. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 113: 199-225
TEACH. Water Pollution in the Great Lakes http://www.great-lakes.net/teach/pollution/water/water1.html (Oct. 23, 2006) U.S. Environmental Protections Agency. Clean Water Act, July 2006. http://www.epa.gov/r5water/cwa.htm (Oct. 23, 2006)

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