Environment Canada, Toronto
28 September, 2001
With lower pollution levels in the air, Lakes start to “out-gas” PCBs, pesticides
Significant quantities of chemicals, including PCBs and pesticides, are being released from the Great Lakes into the atmosphere, according to data compiled by a long-term Canada-U.S. research project.
Researchers say pollution controls have caused atmospheric concentrations of many chemicals to fall to a point that allows the Lakes to begin naturally cleansing themselves through the volatilization process – evaporating pollution off the water surface.
Latest figures from the bi-national Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network (IADN) show a net release from Lake Ontario alone of almost two metric tonnes of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) into the air, as well as significant amounts of dieldrin and other pesticides, over the five years 1992 to 1996. The process known as volatilization or “out-gassing” affects all five Great Lakes to varying degrees.
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