Environmental Toxicology:

• Analytical Methods
• Sediment Baselines
• Sources and Fates
• Runoff Management
• Evaluation
• Consumer Information

 

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Sources and Fates of Toxic Chemicals

Sources and fates of toxic chemicals must be determined for managing them.  A key question in the islands has been whether local homes, roads, and farms have a significant effect on aquatic and marine environments, in comparison with the enormous toxic output of nearby cities such as Seattle and Victoria.  Kwiaht has used accumulations of over-the-counter garden pesticides in clams, and PAHs in freshwater fish, to establish links between islanders’ lifestyles and toxic threats.  At the same time, Kwiaht found that the distribution of arsenic and cadmium in lakes and ponds in the islands is mainly due to atmospheric deposition of ashes from fossil-fuel-burning power plants; while high concentrations of these metals in well water has geological origins.