Biological and chemical contaminants as drivers of change in the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence river basin

Linking field‐based metabolomics and chemical analyses to prioritize contaminants of emerging concern in the Great Lakes basin

“…Two cages with 12 fathead minnows per cage (6 males and 6 females) were deployed at multiple locations in the Great Lakes basin (18 sites spanning 5 watersheds: St. Louis River estuary [MN, USA], Detroit River [MI, USA], Maumee River [OH, USA], Milwaukee River estuary [WI, USA], and Fox River [WI, USA]; Supplemental Data, Table S1) . These sites are characterized by a range of biological impairments associated with point and nonpoint contamination and designated by Environment Canada and the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) as Great Lakes areas of concern . The main objective of the present study was to assess the utility of metabolomics for screening detected contaminants for probable biological activity rather than surveying the spatial distribution of such contaminants.…”

The Great Lakes Futures Project

“…For example, conventional and emerging contaminants have and continue to pose serious threats to ecosystem health within the Great Lakes basin (Cornwell et al, 2015). Furthermore, the Great Lakes basin has been significantly invaded by non-native species making the region the most invaded freshwater system in the world.…”

Thriving and prosperous: How we rallied to confront collective challenges

“…These events were conceived by considering nine drivers of change in the Great Lakes region: aquatic invasive species (AIS); biological and chemical contaminants; climate change; demographics and societal values; economy; energy; governance and geopolitics; water quantity; and technology. Other articles in this special issue (Bartolai et al, 2015;Campbell et al, 2015;Cornwell et al, 2015;Jetoo et al, 2015;Kelly et al, 2015;Maghrebi et al, 2015;Méthot et al, 2015;Pagnucco et al, 2015) describe how these drivers impacted the Great Lakes region over the past 50 years and project their impacts 50 years into the future. Although "technology" was not originally identified as a driver of change, it was added to the future histories found in this special issue after conferring with Great Lakes region stakeholders.…”

“…Environmental challenges included threats from AIS (e.g., quagga mussels and Asian carp) as noted in Mills et al (1993), Pagnucco et al (2015), and Rixon et al (2005); biological contamination (e.g., excess phosphorus and Escherichia coli) as noted in Cornwell et al (2015) and Whitman et al (2003); chemical contamination (e.g., mercury and brominated flame retardants) as noted in Cornwell et al (2015); Stewart et al (1999), and Zhu and Hites (2004); and climate change (e.g., uncertain impacts on the hydrologic cycle and habitat suitability for native species) as noted in Bartolai et al (2015); Hayhoe et al (2010), and Mortsch and Quinn (1996). Social challenges included health risks from exposure to contaminated water, soil, and air (Dorevitch et al, 2012;Kelly et al, 2015;Martinez et al, 2012;Venier and Hites, 2010) and urban sprawl (Méthot et al, 2015).…”