Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. The sources of PAHs are numerous and diverse, and identifying the primary source s can be difficult. The present study used multiple lines of evidence to determine the likely sources of PAHs to surficial streambed sediments at 71 locations across 26 Great Lakes Basin watersheds.
These results have important implications for watershed managers tasked with protecting and remediating aquatic habitats in the Great Lakes Basin. Environ Toxicol Chem ;β However, a history of industrial, agricultural, and household pollution has left a legacy of contaminated sediments in many areas of the Great Lakes and their tributaries.
Some of the contaminants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls PCBs and DDT, are primarily historical, because regulations in recent decades have resulted in major reductions in their source contributions.
Other contaminants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons PAHs , have historical and modern sources, and therefore continue to enter and accumulate in the Great Lakes and their tributaries today Baldwin et al. A recent study of organic compounds in water samples from Great Lakes tributaries found that among 15 classes of organic contaminants, including herbicides and insecticides, PAHs posed the greatest risk to aquatic organisms Baldwin et al.
They are widespread contaminants with sources both historical and modern, and both natural and anthropogenic. Petrogenic PAHs, which form at low temperatures over geologic time scales, come from refined petroleum products asphalt, diesel, gasoline, home heating oil, motor oil, and lubricants and unprocessed coal and crude oil, among others Pietara et al. Natural sources of pyrogenic PAHs include volcanic eruptions and wildfires. The objectives of the present study were to 1 assess the occurrence and potential adverse biological effects of PAHs in recently deposited sediments in Great Lakes tributaries across 6 US states, and 2 identify the most important sources of PAHs to Great Lakes tributaries using multiple lines of evidence.
