According to a synopsis of a Study released in April, found in Environmental Health News: For the first time the antibacterial agent triclosan has been found in the blood of marine mammals..."A bacteria-killing chemical widely used in an array of consumer products (soaps, deodorants, etc.) has made its way down kitchen and bathroom sinks and into dolphins living in US coastal waters."
"...The bottlenose dolphin – is accumulating triclosan from water bodies where treated sewage is released. The study examined animals from rivers, an estuary, a harbor and a lagoon in South Carolina and Florida (Indian River Lagoon)."
Scientists worry that the agent, even at low levels, will cause interference with hormone systems that can alter biological systems. Remember dolphins are in water 24-7 so they are the canary in the mineshaft.
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RESTON, Virginia, June 17, 2009 (ENS) - Pesticide-related compounds and elevated levels of nitrate have been found in lakes in central Florida's Lake Wales Ridge region, federal and state government scientists announced Tuesday. The chemicals found in this citrus production region of Polk County include currently used pesticides at concentrations among the highest in surface water samples as compared to a previous study of agricultural areas around the nation, according to the new U.S. Geological Survey report.
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Scientists tested eight lakes for 83 pesticides and related chemical compounds. Seven of the lakes are surrounded predominantly by citrus groves which were compared with one lake surrounded by relatively undeveloped land. In the seven lakes located in citrus areas, nine to 14 compounds were detected per lake, compared with three compounds detected at very low levels from the lake in an undeveloped area.
The common occurrence of pesticide mixtures in the lakes means that the combined toxicity may be greater than that of any single pesticide compound. Some of these pesticides have also been found in urban and residential areas in surface waters, indicating sources are not limited to just agriculture.
Because decades-long studies are difficult to conduct, the impact of chronic exposure to these mixtures is unknown.
Lakes in the area are not used for public drinking water, and none of the samples exceeded federal or state drinking-water benchmarks for nitrate or pesticide concentrations, but benchmarks have not been set for all of the pesticides detected in the USGS study.
Aquatic-life benchmarks exist for 10 of the 20 pesticide compounds found and no concentrations met or exceeded those benchmarks. Yet questions remain about the possible impacts of these substances. Benchmarks for some of these chemicals and for chemical mixtures are still in the process of development.
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The compounds most frequently found include norflurazon and its degradate, bromacil, simazine degradates, diuron and its degradate, aldicarb degradates, metalaxyl, and 2,4-D. The lakes in citrus areas also were enriched with chemicals used as citrus fertilizers.
This study is unique in that very few studies have looked for pesticides in small to medium-sized lakes, or tested as many pesticide break-down products. Since the water resources in the area are so interconnected, this kind of information helps scientists understand where these chemicals go, how they break down and if they are posing threats to our water resources.
More than 200 lakes occur in the Lake Wales Ridge, located in Florida's Polk and Highland counties. Many of the region's lakes are 'flow-through' lakes, meaning that water seeps in and out of the lakes and is connected with water found in aquifers near the surface.
Water from the lakes can also flow into deeper groundwater systems such as the Upper Floridan aquifer, which is the region's principal drinking-water source. This makes it critical to understand what happens to pesticides that are currently being used in the region, the scientists said.
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There were differences between what was expected and what was actually observed. That means scientists still need to rely on water quality-sampling to accurately assess pesticide occurrence in the lakes.
Atmospheric transport via wind and rainfall was not measured directly but could be an additional way that chemicals move into the lakes.
"Some of the differences between the predictions and our results may be due in part to differences between local pesticide use and the statewide averages, but it appears we may also have more to learn about how the chemical breakdown of pesticides occurs within different environmental settings," said Choquette.
My real eye-opener is when I watched PBS’s FRONTLINE documentary - Poisoned Waters.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/poisonedwaters/view/
This is a must see documentary that’s available free, on-demand.
Startling new evidence shows that today's growing environmental threat comes not from the giant industrial polluters of old, but from chemicals in consumers' face creams, deodorants, prescription medicines and household cleaners that find their way into sewers, storm drains, and eventually into America's waterways and drinking water.
Reprinted from 'Poisoned Waters' PBS Frontline Documentary
what does one do with old meds? I wondered about that last week as I had some really strong pills to throw out (these pills cause serious birth defects),,, I ended up putting them in the garbage bag in their blister packs sealed in baggies and hope they are not biodegradable packages. I could not bring myself to flush them.
I'd think twice about swimming in the Ocean around here. Check out the bacteria counts. Ocean outspills...hmmmm, what would that do for tourism? Call your local health department and get stats on MERSA. The hell with the dolphin, save the tourists Mayor Alvarez.
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