Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Trends of Chlorinated Organic Contaminants in Great Lakes Trout and Walleye from 1970 to 1998

  • Published:
Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Levels of chlorinated organic contaminants in predator fish have been monitored annually in each of the Great Lakes since the 1970s. This article updates earlier reports with data from 1991 to 1998 for lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and (Lake Erie only) walleye (Sander vitreus) to provide a record that now extends nearly 30 years. Whole fish were analyzed for a number of industrial contaminants and pesticides, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT), dieldrin, toxaphene, and mirex, and contaminant trends were quantified using multicompartment models. As in the past, fish from Lakes Michigan, Ontario, and Huron have the highest levels of PCBs, DDT, and dieldrin; Superior has the highest levels of toxaphene; and Ontario has the highest levels of mirex. In the period after curtailment of chemical use, concentrations rapidly decreased, represented by relatively short half-lives from approximately 1 to 9 years. Although trends depend on both the contaminant and the lake, in many cases the rate of decline has been decreasing, and concentrations are gradually approaching an irreducible concentration. For dioxin-like PCBs, levels have not been decreasing during the most recent 5-year period (1994 to 1998). In some cases, the year-to-year variation in contaminant levels is large, mainly because of food-web dynamics. Although this variation sometimes obscures long-term trends, the general pattern of a rapid decrease followed by slowing or leveling-off of the downward trend seems consistent across the Great Lakes, and future improvements of the magnitude seen in the 1970s and early 1980s likely will take much longer.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ballschmiter K, Zell M (1980) Analysis of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) by capillary gas chromatography. Fresenius Z Anal Chem 302:20-31

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Battelle Memorial Institute (1999a) Great Lakes binational toxics strategy: Draft report for hexachlorobenzene (HCB): sources and regulations. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Great Lakes National Program Office, Chicago, IL

  • Battelle Memorial Institute (1999b) Great Lakes binational toxics strategy: Octachlorostyrene (OCS) report: A review of potential sources. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Great Lakes National Program Office, Chicago, IL

  • Baumann PC, Whittle DM (1988) The status of selected organics in the Laurentian Great Lakes: An overview of DDT, PCBs, dioxins, furans, and aromatic hydrocarbons. Aquat Toxicol 11:241-257

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Borgmann U, Whittle DH (1983) Particle-size-conversion efficiency and contaminant concentrations in Lake Ontario biota. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 40:328-336

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgmann U, Whittle DM (1991) Contaminant concentration trends in Lake Ontario lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush): 1977-1988. J Great Lakes Res 17:368-381

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bronte CR, Hoff MH (1999) Status of forage fish in Lake Superior, 1978-98. In: Minutes of the 1999 meeting of the Lake Superior Committee. Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Ann Arbor, MI

  • DeVault DS, Willford WA, Hesselberg RJ (1985) Contaminant trends in lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) of the upper Great Lakes. United States Environmental Protection Agency 905/3 85 001 and GLFL No. 639

  • DeVault DS, Willford WA, Hesselberg RJ, Nortrup DA, Runalberg ECS, et al. (1986) Contaminant trends in lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) from the upper Great Lakes. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 5:349-356

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • DeVault DS, Hesselberg RJ, Rodgers PW, Feist TJ (1996) Contaminant trends in Lake Trout and Walleye from the Laurentian Great Lakes. J Great Lakes Res 22:884–895

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Falandysz J, Kannan K, Tanabe S, Tatsukawa R (1994) Concentrations, clearance rates and toxic potential of non-ortho coplanar PCBs in cod liver oil from the southern Baltic Sea from 1971 to 1989. Mar Pollut Bull 28:259-262

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fanslow DL, Nalepa TF, Lang GL (1995) Filtration rates of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) on natural seston from Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron. J Great Lakes Res 21:489-500

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallinat MP, Bronte CR (1995) Food habits of lake trout in management units WI-2 and MI-2 in Lake Superior, 1985-1994. In: Minutes of the 1995 meeting of the Lake Superior Committee, appendix VIII. Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Ann Arbor, MI

  • Glassmeyer ST, DeVault DE, Meyers TR, Hites RA (1997) Toxaphene in Great Lakes fish: A temporal, spatial, and trophic study. Environ Sci Technol 31:84-88

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hebert CE, Norstrom RJ, Simon XY, Wesleloh DV, Macdonald CR (1994) Temporal trends and sources of PCDDs and PCDFs in the Great Lakes: Herring gull egg monitoring, 1981-1991. Environ Sci Technol 28:1268-1277

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hesselberg RJ, Gannon JE (1995) Contaminant trends in Great Lakes fish. In: LaRoe ET, Farris GS, Puckett CE, Doran PD, Mac MJ, (eds). Our living resources. Department of the Interior, National Biological Service, Washington, DC, pp 242-244

    Google Scholar 

  • Huestis SY, Servos MR, Whittle DM, Dixon DG (1996) Temporal and age-related trends in levels of polychlorinated biphenyl congeners and organochlorine contaminants in Lake Ontario lake trout (Salvalinus namaycush). J Great Lakes Res 22:310-330

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • International Organisation for the Management of Chemicals (1995) POPs assessment report, December 1995. Available at: http://www.chem.unep.ch/pops/indxhtms/asses.html. Accessed: Aug 29, 2005

  • James R, Hites R (2002) Atmospheric transport of toxaphene from the southern United States to the Great Lakes region. Environ Sci Technol 36: 3474-3481

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kannan K, Yamashita N, Imagawa T, DeCoen W, Khim J-S, Day RM, et al. (2000a) Polychlorinated naphthalenes and polychlorinated biphenyls in fishes from Michigan waters including the Great Lakes. Environ Sci Technol 34:566-572

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kannan K, Imagawa T, Yamashita N, Miyazaki A, Giesy JP (2000b) Polychlorinated naphthalenes in sediment, fishes and fish-eating water birds from Michigan waters of the Great Lakes. Organohal Comp 47:13-16

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keith LH (1991) Environmental sampling and analysis: A practical guide. Lewis, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL

    Google Scholar 

  • Kiriluk RM, Whittle DM, Keir MJ, Carswell AA, Huestis SY (1997). The Great Lakes fisheries specimen bank: A Canadian perspective in environmental specimen banking. Chemosphere 34:1921-1932

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Landrum PF (1988) Toxicokinetics of organic xenobiotics in the amphipod Pontoporeia hoyi: The role of physiological and environmental variables. Aquat Toxicol 12:245-271

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Madenjian CP, Desorcie TJ, Stedman RM, Brown Jr EH, Eck GW, Schmidt LJ, et al. (1999) Spatial patterns in PCB concentrations of Lake Michigan lake trout. J Great Lakes Res 25:149-159

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Madenjian CP, Whittle DM, Elrod JH, O’Gorman R, Owens RW (1995) Use of a simulation model to reconstruct PCB concentrations in prey of Lake Ontario lake trout. Environ Sci Technol 29:2610-2615

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Muir DCG, Jones PD, Karlsson H, Koczansky K, Stern GA, Kannan K, et al. (2002) Toxaphene and other persistent organochlorine pesticides in three species of albatrosses from the north and south Pacific Ocean. Environ Toxicol Chem 21:412-423

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Muir DCG, Whittle DM, De Vault DS, Bronte CR, Karlsson H, Backus S, et al. (2004) Bioaccumulation of toxaphene congeners in the Lake Superior food web. J Great Lakes Res 30:316-340

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oliver BG, Nimi AJ (1988) Trophodynamic analysis of polychlorinated biphenyl congeners and other chlorinated hydrocarbons in the Lake Ontario ecosystem. Environ Sci Technol 22:388-397

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt LJ (1997) Method for analysis of total PCBs and PCB congeners (full suite) and trans-nonachlor by gas chromatography/negative chemical ionization single ion mass spectrometry. Volume II of Lake Michigan mass balance study methods compendium: Organic and mercury methods. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Great Lakes National Program Office, Chicago, IL (EPA-905-R-97-012b)

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt LJ, Hesselberg RJ (1992) A mass spectroscopic method for the analysis of AHH-inducing and other polychlorinated biphenyl congeners and selected pesticides in fish. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 23:37-44

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stow CA, Carpenter SR, Amrhien JF (1994) PCB concentration trends in Lake Michigan coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha). Can J Fish Aquat Sci 51:1384-1390

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stow CA, Carpenter SR, Eby LA, Amrhien JF, Hesselberg (1995) Evidence that PCBs are approaching stable concentrations in Lake Michigan fishes. Ecol Appl 5:248-260

    Google Scholar 

  • Stow CA, Carpenter SR, Eby LA, Amrhien JF, Hesselberg RJ (1995) Temporal patterns of PCB concentrations and predator-prey concentration ratio of Lake Michigan fishes. Ecol Appl 5(1):248-260

    Google Scholar 

  • Stow CA, Jackson LJ, Amrhein JF (1997) An examination of the PCB: lipid relationship among individual fish. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 54:1031-1038

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Suns KR, Hitchin GG, Toner D (1993) Spatial and temporal trends of organochlorine contaminants in spottail shiners from selected sites in the Great Lakes (1975-1990). J Great Lakes Res 19:703-714

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Swackhamer DL, Schottler SP, Pearson RF (1999) Air-water exchange and mass balance of toxaphene in the Great Lakes. Environ Sci Technol 33:3864-3872

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • United States Environmental Protection Agency (1980) Ambient water quality for diedrin. US Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 440/5-80-019. Office of Water Quality Regulations and Standards, Washington, DC

  • United States Environmental Protection Agency (2005) Human health and the Great Lakes. Fish consumption. Available at: http://www.great-lakes.net/humanhealth/fish/index.html. Accessed: Aug 29, 2005

  • United States Environmental Protection Agency/Integrated Risk Information System (1998) USEPA Integrated Risk Information System Substance file—Chlordane (technical) CASRN 12789-03-6; 02/07/1998. p. 10. Available at: http://www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0142.htm. Accessed: Aug 29, 2005

  • United States Environmental Protection Agency/United States Geological Survey (1977) Memoranda of understanding/cooperative agreement for Great Lakes Fish monitoring program (GLFMP) between EPA/CRL and USFWS/GLFL, updated July 13, 1989, between USEPA/GLNPO and USFWS/NFRC-GL, and June 10, 1996 between USEPA/GLNPO and NBS/GLSC. October 14, 1977. Ann Arbor, MI, and Chicago, IL

  • Whittle DM, Kiriluk RM, Carswell AA, Kier MJ, MacEachen DC (1997) Spatial and temporal variation of toxaphene in fish communities of the Great Lakes. Extended abstract. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 18th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 16–25

  • World Health Organization (1997) WHO toxic equivalency factors (TEFs) for dioxin-like compounds for humans and wildlife, June 15–18, Stockholm, Sweden

Download references

Acknowledgments

This article is contribution no. 1330 of the USGS Great Lakes Science Center. Funding for this study was provided in part by a grant from the USEP Agency–Great Lakes National Program Office and from the Michigan Education and Research Center supported by the National Institute of Occupational Health. The authors thank Linda Begnoche and Richard Quintal at the GLSC and the many other individuals who assisted in sample collection and processing.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. United States Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center, 1451 Green Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48105, USA

    J. P. Hickey

  2. School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109, USA

    S. A. Batterman & S. M. Chernyak

Authors
  1. J. P. Hickey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S. A. Batterman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. S. M. Chernyak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. A. Batterman.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hickey, J.P., Batterman, S.A. & Chernyak, S.M. Trends of Chlorinated Organic Contaminants in Great Lakes Trout and Walleye from 1970 to 1998. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 50, 97–110 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-005-1007-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-005-1007-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation