Accumulation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in the sediments of the Great Lakes

Conference · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:201228

Pearson, R F; Swackhamer, D L ^[1]; Eisenreich, S J ^[2]; Long, D T ^[3]

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1. Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
2. Gray Freshwater Biological Inst., Navarre, MN (United States)
3. Michigan State Univ., E. Lansing, MI (United States). Dept. of Geological Sciences

The authors have analyzed dated sediment cores from three of the Great Lakes (Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario) and two remote lakes near Lake Superior for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and dibenzofurans (PCDF). The data show the onset of PCDD/PCDF accumulation to have occurred in the 1940 horizon. Sediment accumulation of the pollutants peaked in the early-to-mid 1970s and has subsequently declined, but not to pre-1940 levels. The current accumulation rates are similar in the remote lakes and Lake Superior which are assumed to receive inputs from the atmosphere only. Currently, accumulations in Lakes Michigan and Ontario are five and twenty-fold that of the atmospherically driven lakes. Within a given lake, homolog profiles of PCDD-/PCDFs are similar; however, between-lake differences exist suggesting differing sources of inputs to the lakes.

• OSTI ID: 201228
• Report Number(s): CONF-9511137--; ISBN 1-880611-03-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
BENZOFURANS
DIOXIN
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
LAKE MICHIGAN
LAKE ONTARIO
LAKE SUPERIOR
MONITORING
SEDIMENTS
WATER POLLUTION