Tracking PCB Contamination in Ontario Great Lakes Tributaries: Development of Methodologies and Lessons Learned for Watershed Based Investigations
| Autor: | Nadine Benoit, Alice Dove, D. Burniston, Duncan Boyd |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Hydrology geography geography.geographical_feature_category Watershed Environmental remediation 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology Polychlorinated biphenyl Biota 010501 environmental sciences 01 natural sciences Soil contamination chemistry.chemical_compound chemistry Tributary Environmental science Water quality Water pollution Water resource management 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Environmental Protection. :390-409 |
| ISSN: | 2152-2219 2152-2197 |
| DOI: | 10.4236/jep.2016.73035 |
| Popis: | Project Trackdown is an investigative environmental program aimed at tracking sources of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination in Great Lakes tributaries. The program uses a multimedia weight of evidence approach for identifying sources of PCBs to the environment. PCB concentrations in environmental media (sediment, water, suspended sediment and soil), passive samplers and/or exposed biota (mussels, young-of-the-year fish and benthic invertebrates) are used in combination to evaluate bioavailability and identify local anomalies within a tributary. These lines of evidence can be assessed with simple chemometric techniques and fingerprinting of PCB congener profiles, and, combined with anecdotal information such as land use history and tributary alterations, may be used to identify ongoing and locally controllable sources of PCBs to the Great Lakes. The program was successful at developing environmental triggers to differentiate potential source areas from background PCB conditions in urban areas, allowing efforts to focus on identifying active ongoing sources of PCB contamination. Project Trackdown has been carried out in three tributaries to Lake Ontario (Cataraqui River, Etobicoke Creek and Twelve Mile Creek) and two tributaries that flow into the Detroit River (Turkey Creek and Little River). Local ongoing PCB sources have been identified in four projects, leading to abatement or remediation measures. As a collaborative initiative between the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Environment Canada, Project Trackdown has successfully identified several PCB sources leading to substantial cleanup efforts aimed ultimately at reducing PCB contamination to the Great Lakes. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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