The Wildlife Connection: Wetlands and Toxicology

Commencing in the early 1940s, millions of tons of synthetic organochlorine pesticides and industrial chemicals- and by-products form their manufacture and use- have been released in the Northern Hemisphere. In addition to being emitted into the atmosphere, many of these compounds were intentionally discarded in surface water systems, such as oceans, lakes, rivers, swamps, marshes, and groundwater, long before their persistence and bioavailability were understood. As a result, these chemicals are often found in high concentrations in wetlands and wildlife tissue. This observations is confirmed by the 42 "areas of concern" designated along the periphery of the Great Lakes and the serious conditions reported in other littoral zones globally. Today, we must deal with the legacy of these practices, not only in the Great Lakes, but worldwide.