Aquatic fate of hazardous-waste-derived organic compounds in the Niagara River-Lake Ontario area

Thesis/Dissertation · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:7095819

Jaffe, R

This thesis is an environmental assessment of the Niagara Falls-Lake Ontario system. To evaluate the impact of pollution on this aquatic system, it is important to study mechanisms of transport and fates of the anthropogenic compounds originating from these disposal sites. Most of the pollutants reported in the Niagara River and Lake Ontario are common to the major dump sites in the area and cannot be used to trace the impact of one particular site. Effort was, therefore, invested in the identification and study of compounds specific only to these sites. This strategy was used to differentiate between the impacts of two adjacent dump sites. The author identified a variety of marker compounds for one of the major disposal sites in the area using gas-chromatographic mass spectrometry. This group of compounds, by-products of the synthesis of 4-chlorotrifluoromethylbenzene, possesses the characteristics desirable for environmental marker compounds. They are source specific and environmentally stable, Through analysis of sediment cores, transport of these compounds into Lake Ontario as well as their historical records was studied. Their bioavailability was studied through fish analyses. The data indicate that pollutants entering through the Niagara River are rapidly and uniformly distributed throughout the lake.

• Research Organization: Indiana Univ., Bloomington (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7095819
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

500200* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
ECOSYSTEMS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
GREAT LAKES
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
LAKE ONTARIO
LAKES
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
NIAGARA RIVER
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
RIVERS
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WATER POLLUTION