Michigan: Great Lakes

Lindane - EnviroTools.org Flint Michigan

State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC)

Manno, J., D. Riedel, and N. Trembley. August 1995. Effects of Great Lakes Basin Environmental Contaminants on Human Health. SOLEC Working Paper presented at State of the Great Lakes Ecosystem Conference. EPA 905-R-95-013. Chicago, Ill.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Based on the above factors and considerations, the International Joint Commission's Great Lakes Water Quality Board has identified eleven chemicals as priority contaminants (indicated below by *). In addition to those designated by the IJC, there are several other substances (also listed below) that are worthy of consideration in the context of potential harm to the ecosystem and to human health.

Organochlorines

• . polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) *

• . dioxins (i.e., PCDDS; e.g., 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), *

• . furans (i.e., PCDFs; e.g., 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran, (TCDF) *

• . certain pesticides:

• . DDT and metabolites (e.g., DDE) *

• . mirex *

• . toxaphene *

• . hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs; e.g., Lindane)

• . hexachlorobenzene (HCB) *

• . aldrin/dieldrin *

• . chlordane and metabolites

• . heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide

Airborne Contaminants

• . ground-level ozone

• . polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (e.g., benzo(a)pyrene, or B(a)P) *

• . particulates

• . acid aerosols

• . nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxides

• . volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) (e.g., trihalomethanes, tetrachloroethylene)

Toxic Heavy Metals

• . alkylated lead *

• . methyl mercury *

• . cadmium

Radionuclides

Examples:

• . strontium

• . cesium

• . radon gas

Microbial Contaminants

Examples:

• . bacterial pathogens (e.g., Escherichia coli)

• . viral pathogens (e.g., Enterovirus)

• . protozoa (e.g., Cryptosporidium, Giardia)

2.2 Sources of Priority Contaminants and Routes of Human Exposure

There are a number of pathways by which humans can be exposed to toxic contaminants in the Great Lakes Basin. The two major routes of human exposure are the consumption of food, primarily fish, and the ingestion of drinking water.

Fish consumption is a major exposure route because toxic substances such as dioxins, furans, DDT/DDE, hexachlorobenzene, mirex, mercury, PCBs, toxaphene, chlordane, and lindane found in the Great Lakes bioaccumulate in fish tissue (Colborn et al., 1990). Many of these chemicals (e.g., PCBs, mercury, and DDE) have been found in the tissues of human populations that consume Great Lakes fish. A study of Wisconsin anglers revealed that there were significant correlations between sport-caught fish meals and PCB and DDE blood/serum levels, and between kilograms of fish caught and PCB blood/serum levels (Fiore et al., 1989).

With respect to consumption of drinking water, a second route of exposure, the cumulative effect of long-term, low-dose exposure to chemicals in drinking water cannot be ignored due to the large population dependent on Great Lakes surface water. The USEPA has estimated that approximately 12,700,000 people drink about 2 liters of contaminated water per person per day from surface water supplied systems within the Great Lakes counties (USEPA Great Lakes National Program Office, 1992). Ingestion of contaminated drinking water or recreational water is also a route of exposure to microbial contaminants.

...

It is important to consider that the potential risks associated with the ingestion of drinking water is much lower than the risks associated with other types of exposures. For example, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers the risk of cancer posed by drinking water from the Great Lakes much lower than that for other exposure routes. According to USEPA estimates, the potential number of excess cancer cases related to the ingestion of drinking water across the Basin may total approximately 66 over a 70-year span. On the other hand, the estimated total number of potential excess cancer cases related to consumption of Great Lakes fish is 30,000 over a 70-year span -- several orders of magnitude higher (USEPA Great Lakes National Program Office, 1992). The USEPA based its estimate on the following assumptions: that the residents of the Great Lakes Basin who derive their drinking water from surface water sources ingest 2.0 litres of contaminated water per person per day; an estimated duration of exposure of 70 years (lifetime) and an estimated average body weight of 70 kg; a Great Lakes population of 12,700,000 relying on drinking water from surface water supplied systems within the Great Lakes counties in the U.S.; and concentrations of lindane, -BHC (a by-product of lindane), dieldrin, p'p-DDE, PCBs, and HCB for all of the Great Lakes as estimated by the International Joint Commission's (IJC) Water Quality Board (1989).

http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/solec/94/health/

Lake Michigan's Toxic Legacy

by Ben Lilliston

Conscious Choice, November/December 1998

But beneath the water, caught in the sediments at the lake's bottom, lurks its toxic past. And poisons that have made it to the surface have forced a recent rash of beach closings. Along the lake's edge, new threats to lake habitat comes from sprawling development. Lake Michigan's new environmental adversaries are air pollution, sewage sludge, and suburban sprawl.

Illinois is a major source of the most poisonous air pollutants that fall in Lake Michigan - pollutants that continue to dramatically affect humans, fish, and wildlife. Air pollutants affecting Lake Michigan include:

~ Dioxins, furans, and benzene (from incomplete combustion or paper manufacturing);
~ Polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs (from electrical equipment and paper manufacturing);
~ Mercury (from incinerators and coal-burning power plants);
~ Pesticides such as DDT, lindane, and chlordane (that have evaporated or washed from fields).

Lake Michigan acts as a sink for these airborne pollutants, which can take decades to break down into a harmless state. The toxics find their way into the lake's sediments and then work their way up the food chain, increasing in concentration at each level. The toxic chemicals in the sediments can be stirred up by passing boats, wave action, or the animals that feed or live near the bottom.
http://www.consciouschoice.com/note/note116.html

This Clean Sweep program shall remove and dispose of old, unwanted, suspended, or canceled pesticides from the agriculture community, industry, and homeowners in Michigan at no fee to the end-user. During annual collection programs, pesticides on the Level I BNS-targeted substances, Level II BNS Toxics, and pesticides of concern for the Lake Michigan, Erie, and Superior LaMP are collected and removed from the environment, demonstrating an ongoing need to provide disposal options to household, private, and commercial participants. Some of the pesticides removed include Dieldrin/Aldrin, Mercury, DDT, Lindane, Chlordane, and others, including numerous "unknown" chemicals returned without labeling or original containers.

http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/fund/99summ.htm

Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1978

The concentration of lindane in water should not exceed 0.01 micrograms per litre for the protection of aquatic life. The concentration of lindane in edible portions of fish should not exceed 0.3 micrograms per gram (wet weight basis) for the protection of human consumers of fish.

http://www.ijc.org/agree/quality.html

An example of bioaccumulation in aquatic organisms can be seen in Lake Ontario. The water in the Great Lakes has a concentration range of 0.4 - 11 ppt of lindane. However, the plankton, fish, and herring gulls inhabiting Lake Ontario have exceedingly higher concentrations.

• plankton: 12 000 ppt (1100X)

• fish : 2 000 - 36 000 ppt (180 - 32 700X)

• herring gull eggs: 78 000 ppt (7000X

http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/Biology/4S03/FH1.HTM#five

Concentrations of the pesticide lindane do not appear to be decreasing in humans; concentrations in the Great Lakes is at a level of concern. In animal studies, lindane has been shown to behave like estrogen causing detrimental effects on the reproductive system of exposed males. Lindane concentrates in breast milk and thus is of particular concern to nursing infants.

"HORMONE COPYCATS"

A Report of the
Great Lakes Natural Resource Center
National Wildlife Federation®
April 4, 1994

Organic accumulation occurs in the same biphasic manner as metal accumulation. The less water soluble an organic compound is, and the more lipid soluble, the greater the bioaccumulation. A low water solubility, plus other physicochemical properties make most organic chemicals more lipid soluble. Phytoplankton (Chlorella fusca) was shown to bioconcentrate over 34 different organic chemicals. The accumulation of polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs) was shown to occur in phytoplankton, which decreased the lipid biosynthesis. As well, the mucilage layer, in Fragilana crotonensis, doubled the bioconcentration of hexachlorobiphenol (HCB) and lindane by Chlorella.. This is disturbing because many algal species have extracellular material associated with them, increasing the incidence of bioconcentration. These experiments were done to show that bioaccumulation does exist due to a differentially permeable membrane and bioaccumulation causes deleterious physiological effects on the organism.

http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/Biology/4S03/phyt3.html

also see: POPs

Lindane Superfund in Michigan