Ecological Legacy of DDT Archived in Lake Sediments from Eastern Canada

Kurek, Joshua; MacKeigan, Paul W.; Veinot, Sarah; Mercer, Angella; Kidd, Karen A.

doi:10.1021/acs.est.9b01396

Cited by 26 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Over the past century, plastics have been invented and released into the environment and a series of environmental problems have also emerged, including increased CO 2 concentrations and global warming 24 , increased extreme weather events such drought 25 , forest reductions 25 , accelerated species extinction 26 , and the introduction of POPs such as organochlorine pesticides into the environment 27,28 . All of these impacts have signified that human beings are a significant force affecting the Earth's ecological environment 29 and profoundly altering the planet.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The rapid increases in microplastics in urban lake sediments

Dong

Luo

Jiang

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Anthropocene 8,27,33,35 , but there is still lack of sufficient studies about (micro)plastics abundance and characteristics versus time. We selected the second-largest urban lake in China, Donghu Lake, as the study area and collected a sediment column. The MPs with a detection limit of 100 μm versus time were studied by the 210 Pb chronological data, Raman Spectrometer identification and scanning electron microscope. The changes in MPs abundance, length, colour, polymer type, and surface features over time were studied, and the possibility of using MPs as an indicator of the Anthropocene was discussed.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

The rapid increases in microplastics in urban lake sediments

Dong

Luo

Jiang

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…Supporting this, we nd DDD:DDE in the lake sediments are always greater than 1, indicating dominance of anaerobic conditions in the lake depositional environment (Zhang and Shan 2014, Ma et al 2016). Other studies also report higher DDD than DDT and DDE in lake sediments, since anaerobic conditions are common in lake bottoms (Oliver et al 1989, Muir et al 1995, Kurek et al 2019).…”

Section: Persistencementioning

confidence: 93%

“…The main peak in p,p' DDD and p,p' DDE concentrations in the lake core sediments in 1982, ten years after the U.S. ban, indicates retention of DDT-laden particles in the watershed soils or Bennett Brook, creating a lag in delivery of residues to Squam Lake (Muir et al 1995, Kurek et al 2019.…”

Section: Transportation Potentialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracking Recent DDT Contamination in a Northern New England Watershed: A Geosciences Approach

May

Doner

Duncan

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The p,p’ isomers of DDT, DDE, and DDD were analyzed in soils, sediments, and crayfish in the Squam Lake watershed in central New Hampshire (NH), U.S.A. Bennett Brook sources elevated levels of DDT residues to Squam Lake through sediment transport, likely due to legacy contamination from applications to an apple orchard surrounding the stream in the mid 1900s. Results reveal a point source located at a barn used during the orchard operation, which was burned down around 1967, with up to 723 µg/kg p,p’ DDT and 721 µg/kg p,p’ DDE in the soils. Higher DDT than DDE in soil samples, but not in sediment samples, suggests persistence of the contaminant in watershed soils, and faster degradation once mobilized into Bennett Brook and Squam Lake. DDT residues in the lake sediments from 1951 to the present, reveal DDT has consistently been entering Squam Lake since usage began in the U.S. There are likely multiple sources that have contributed to the constant supply, including the orchard soils treated with DDT serving as a nonpoint source, the barn site, and DDT-laden soils vulnerable to erosion, including stream banks and logged or steeply sloped land. Detections of residues in the stream and lake sediments exceed certain sediment quality guidelines for the protection of aquatic life. Higher p,p’ DDE levels in crayfish collected in the mouth of Bennett Brook versus crayfish collected in Squam Lake, distant from Bennett Brook, suggests that residues sourcing from this sub-watershed are entering the aquatic food chain at levels higher than other parts of the lake.

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“…Lake deposits can preserve the chronological sequence of sediments (Last and Smol, 2001) and lake sediment cores, which collect a top to bottom column of sediment, can improve understanding of historical and current levels of DDT residues in lakes (Oliver et al, 1989;Muir et al, 1995;Olsson et al, 2000;Hu et al, 2010;Kurek et al, 2019). Analyses of Squam Lake sediment cores, therefore, provides insight for: 1) the duration of Bennett Brook sourcing DDT to the lake; 2) the historic and current levels the aquatic ecosystem has been and is exposed to; 3) the dominant DDT products in the lake, and; 4) triggers for mobilization from the Bennett Brook watershed to Squam Lake.…”

Section: Lake Core Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The peak values for p,p' DDD and p,p' DDE in the lake core sediments occurs in those dated to 1982, ten years after the U.S. ban. This lag in peak concentrations implies retention of DDT-laden particles in the watershed soils or in Bennett Brook's channel deposits (Muir et al, 1995;Kurek et al, 2019). We hypothesized that watershed erosion events would produce spikes of ΣDDT in the lake sediments, associated with oods and other sediment disturbances.…”

Section: Transportation Potentialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracking Recent DDT Contamination in a Northern New England Watershed

May¹,

Doner²,

Duncan³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Ecological research since 2005 into potential causes of declines in loon population at Squam Lake, New Hampshire, U.S.A., revealed multiple potential causes, but no particular source of contaminants. In 2017, tributary sediment analyses revealed specific sub-watersheds transporting contaminants to the lake (Vogel, 2019). For this study, from 2018 to 2020, we used an approach to this problem that allowed for rapid source area determination of DDT using soil and sediment analyses. We find modern presence of p,p’ isomers of DDT and DDE within the Bennett Brook sub-watershed, arising from 60-year-old orchard applications and a former barn. Highest concentrations, 723 μg/kg p,p’ DDT and 721 μg/kg p,p’ DDE, occur near the barn’s foundation rubble. DDT exceeds that of the daughter product, DDE, in some of the sub-watershed’s soils, including but not limited to the barn site. In the soils where DDT>DDE, we infer delayed breakdown of DDT. DDT<DDE occurs in the streambed and lake deposits, as well as some soils. A Pb-210 dated sediment core, collected near the outlet of Bennet Brook, shows continuous accumulation of the daughter products, DDE and DDD, from 1951 to the present. Residuals are derived from multiple sources within the sub-watershed, including orchard soils, the barn site, and sediment accumulations in the stream. These DDT residues fall below mandatory soil remediation levels for the State of New Hampshire, but exceed some sediment quality guidelines for protection of aquatic life. Bioaccumulation of p,p’ DDE is evident in crayfish that reside in Bennett Brook.

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Ecological Legacy of DDT Archived in Lake Sediments from Eastern Canada

Cited by 26 publications

References 58 publications

The rapid increases in microplastics in urban lake sediments

The rapid increases in microplastics in urban lake sediments

Tracking Recent DDT Contamination in a Northern New England Watershed: A Geosciences Approach

Tracking Recent DDT Contamination in a Northern New England Watershed

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