PCB, Organochlorine Pesticide and Mercury Changes in Lake Trout
PCB, Organochlorine Pesticide and Mercury Changes in Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) from Five Finger Lakes, New York State Lawrence C. Skinner1 Ronald J. Sloan1, 5 Samuel J. Jackling2 Anthony Gudlewski3 Ralph Karcher4 1 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources 625 Broadway Albany, New York 12233-4756 2 Formerly (now retired): New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Solid and Hazardous Materials 625 Broadway Albany, New York 12233 3 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Hale Creek Field Station 182 Steele Avenue Extension Gloversville, New York 12078 4 Formerly (now retired): New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Air Sterling Laboratory Facility Rensselaer, New York 12144 5 Now retired. May 2010 ABSTRACT Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides and mercury have been measured episodically in lake trout of know age taken from four Finger Lakes (Canadice, Canandaigua, Keuka, Seneca) over an approximate 25 year period and from Cayuga Lake for nearly 40 years. Concentrations of PCBs, total p,p=-DDT, p,p=-DDE, total chlordane, trans- nonachlor and mercury increase with age of the lake trout until about age 7 to 8, after which the rate of accumulation with age slows. For all five lakes, concentrations of PCBs, DDT and metabolites, chlordane compounds and hexachlorobenzene have declined over the period of measurement by 70 percent or more. The patterns of declines are not consistent among lakes and chemical compounds. Keuka Lake has shown increases of several chemical residues in the last few years. Mirex, a compound not used in the Finger Lakes basin, had residues that were initially absent, then low concentrations near the detection limit of 2 ng/g were frequently found in the mid 1990's, but again became non-detectable after 2000.
[Show full text]