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The Hidden Dangers of Great Lakes Water Pollution: Understanding Toxic Chemicals

Over 60 toxic chemicals, including PCBs and dioxins, have been identified in the Great Lakes, posing serious threats to aquatic life and human health. These substances can cause cancer, birth defects, and other severe health issues. Water pollution is driven by industrial waste, and the challenge of biomagnification reveals how toxins accumulate in organisms through the food chain. The implications of this pollution extend far beyond the lakes, affecting entire ecosystems and communities reliant on clean water. Understanding these chemicals is crucial for addressing and mitigating their impact.

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The Hidden Dangers of Great Lakes Water Pollution: Understanding Toxic Chemicals

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Presentation Transcript

  1. Water Issues

  2. The Hydrologic Cycle

  3. Water Pollution Over 60 chemicals have identified in the Great Lakes. Theses are known chemicals – who knows what other nasty substances are beneath the surface. Theses chemicals are highly toxic and can cause harm to living creatures. Categories • Toxin – Poisonous substance • Carcinogen – causes cancer • Mutagen – Causes birth defects

  4. Water Pollution con’t Some of the chemicals identified are: • PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyl) • produced in electrical transformers • linked to birth defects and cancer • Dioxin • Produced as waste in industrial and chemical processing • Most deadly substance known to humans • Linked to cancer • Chlorine • Compound common to most toxins • Linked to cancer

  5. Biomagnification • Def – how toxins move up the food chain; concentration increases at each trophic level of the food chain

  6. Walkerton

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