chemicalmunching mussels contaminating great lakes
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today
Egypt Today, egypt today
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today

Chemical-munching mussels contaminating Great Lakes

Egypt Today, egypt today

Egypt Today, egypt today Chemical-munching mussels contaminating Great Lakes

Kingston - AFP

Zebra mussels from the Caspian Sea, introduced to North America by accident, are becoming a veritable plague releasing toxic chemicals into the Great Lakes, Canadian biologists say. The mussels hitch-hiked to Canada on the ballasts of cargo ships arriving on the continent in 1986. And in the past two decades the thumbnail-sized creatures have spread and are found in more than a third of the Great Lakes. Not content with devouring plankton and indigenous species, the mussels are sucking on toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) trapped in the lakes' sediment and releasing the chemicals into the freshwaters, Todd French, a biologist at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario told AFP. "Zebra mussels act as a siphon. They absorb everything and reject what is toxic," he explained. PCBs were first manufactured in 1929, and were widely used in sealing and caulking compounds, cutting oils, inks and paint additives. They were detected in the Great Lakes for the first time in 1966. By 1977, concern over the environmental impact of PCBs, which do not break down easily, led to a North American ban on manufacturing and importing the chemicals. Levels in the Great Lakes abated until the late 1980s before starting to climb again, because of the mussels, scientists have now discovered. Their findings were published in a recent issue of the journal Ecosystems. The concern is the mussels are releasing PCBs that had been trapped in sediment for decades in waters where they are then absorbed by algae and other animals up the food chain until they eventually reach fish eaten by humans. Health Canada says small amounts of PCBs are unlikely to cause adverse health effects. But an accumulation of the chemicals in the body can lead to problems of the nervous system, and liver and kidney cancer. "There is a concern for the 40 million people (Canadians and Americans) living near the Great Lakes," French said. Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario form the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world with a total surface of is 208,610 square kilometers, and hold 21 percent of its fresh water. "Eventually, we'll have to re-evaluate guidelines for the consumption of fish from the Great Lakes," French urged. Over the long term, PCB levels in the Great Lakes should eventually stabilize since the chemicals have largely been phased out, but the havoc created by the mussels does not end there. They blanket vast areas in clusters, interfering with and even suffocating indigenous mollusks and crustaceans, and cause billions of dollars in infrastructure damage. "The zebra mussel gets into the cooling systems of power plants and clogs the pipes. It damages water treatment plants and aquaculture, and even boat engines," said Renata Claudi, head of a group fighting the mussels' spread. "There is a product (Zequanox) which is (effective for destroying populations of) mussels, but it can only be used for eradication in small bodies of water," she said. The Great Lakes are far too big. "There is nothing really that we can do to stop them," concluded Chris Grooms of the ecological group Kingston Field Naturalists. "We're just trying to stem their advance by cleaning boat keels to avoid further contamination of more lakes."

egypttoday
egypttoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

chemicalmunching mussels contaminating great lakes chemicalmunching mussels contaminating great lakes



GMT 09:45 2021 Friday ,21 May

test

GMT 12:12 2012 Sunday ,15 July

Sunita Williams goes on second trip to space

GMT 15:29 2011 Wednesday ,13 July

Director of National Museum of Iran dismissed

GMT 11:26 2017 Monday ,28 August

Bahrain congratulates Iraq on Tal Afar liberation

GMT 21:36 2017 Friday ,06 January

Kohli takes over India ODI, T20 captaincy

GMT 08:55 2017 Friday ,25 August

Haj medical team ready to serve pilgrims

GMT 07:13 2015 Tuesday ,28 April

Elvis's planes staying put at Graceland

GMT 07:51 2016 Thursday ,13 October

Pentagon: US strikes Huthi rebel targets in Yemen

GMT 12:58 2017 Monday ,25 December

More than 30 bodies found in burnt Philippine mall

GMT 23:33 2011 Monday ,19 September

Neymar quells rumours: He is staying put

GMT 21:31 2012 Wednesday ,18 July

Baseball: Texas 6 Oakland 1
 
 Egypt Today Facebook,egypt today facebook  Egypt Today Twitter,egypt today twitter Egypt Today Rss,egypt today rss  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
egypttoday, Egypttoday, Egypttoday