Two canals in Michigan are dangerously
contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, according to this advisory. The seriousness of the contamination was underscored by the
Michigan Department of Health when it wrote in the advisory that the PCB levels
were 2,000 times higher than those typically seen in fish taken from Lake St.
Clair.
The advisories cover the bottom feeders -- carp and catfish.
That’s because they feed closest to the contaminated sediments and have high
concentrations of body fat to store the PCBs. The canals affected are the Lange
and Revere off Lake St. Clair.
Residents who live along the canals are concerned about how
long it’s taking to find the source of the contamination. The Environmental
Protection Agency has been sampling and cleaning up problem areas for years but
hasn’t been able to determine just where the contamination originated. PCBs
have been linked to cancer and are a persistent pollutant, meaning they
accumulate in the environment and in the tissues of living things.
By: Duane Craig
No comments:
Post a Comment