Side effects of 58 years of copper sulfate treatment of the Fairmont Lakes, Minnesota
The shallow Fairmont Lakes in Southern Minnesota have been treated with copper sulfate for 58 years to reduce excessive algal growth. Copper sulfate was applied to five lakes at cumulative rates up to 1647 kg/ha (1470 lb/acre), totaling 1.5 million kilograms. Data collected since treatment of the Fairmont Lakes began in 1921 provide alarming insights into lake responses to sustained chemical treatment with copper sulfate. Short-term and long-term effects have occurred. Short-term effects include: a) the intended temporary killing of algae, b) dissolved oxygen depletion by decomposition of dead algae, c) accelerated phosphorus recycling from the lake bed and recovery of the agal population within 7 to 21 days, and d) occasional fish kills due to oxygen depletion or copper toxicity or both. Long-term effects are shown to include: a) copper accumulation in the sediments, b) tolerance adjustments of certain species of algae to higher copper sulfate dosages, c) shift of species from green to blue-green algae and from game fish to rough fish, d) disappearance of macrophytes, and e) reductions in benthic macroinvertebrates. The conclusion is that while copper sulfate treatments enjoy great popularity because they kill and remove algae almost instantaneously, other immediate or cumulative side effects can be harmful to many other aquatic organisms.
- Research Organization:
- St. Anthony Falls Hydraulic Lab., St. Paul, MN
- OSTI ID:
- 5904636
- Journal Information:
- Water Resour. Bull.; (United States), Vol. 20:6
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
MORTALITY
COPPER SULFATES
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
TOXICITY
LAKES
EUTROPHICATION
ALGAE
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
CONTAMINATION
DATA COMPILATION
DECOMPOSITION
FISHES
INVERTEBRATES
MINERAL CYCLING
OXYGEN
PHOSPHORUS
SEDIMENTS
SPECIES DIVERSITY
TOLERANCE
VARIATIONS
ANIMALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COPPER COMPOUNDS
DATA
ELEMENTS
INFORMATION
NONMETALS
NUMERICAL DATA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANTS
SULFATES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SURFACE WATERS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
VERTEBRATES
560303* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology- Plants- (-1987)
560304 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology- Invertebrates- (-1987)
560305 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology- Vertebrates- (-1987)