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3 - International Joint Commission

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summarised in Table 8. Rossmann (1983) reviewed toxic metal concentrations<br />

in Lake Huron. He compared his 1980 lead data to those from previous<br />

studies and concluded that there was a downward trend in dissolved lead<br />

concentrations. Data on mercury, cadmium and arsenic prior to 1980 could<br />

not be used to establish trends. In 1980, concentrations of dissolved<br />

cadmium in Lake Huron were significantly lower than those of Lakes Erie and<br />

Michigan and there was no significant difference between the Lake Huron<br />

levels and those of Lakes Superior and Ontario (Rossmann and Barres,<br />

1988). Total cadmium levels were significantly less than in Lakes Erie and<br />

Ontario. In Saginaw Bay, very limited data from 1985 suggest that lead and<br />

cadmium concentrations in the water column were at or below levels<br />

measured in 1976- 1978 (IJC. 1987a). The 1980 dissolved arsenic levels in<br />

Lake Huron were significantly lower than those of Lakes Michigan, Ontario<br />

and Superior but not significantly different from levels in Lake Erie (Rossmann<br />

and Barres, 1988). The median concentration of total arsenic in Lake<br />

Huron was significantly lower than that of Lake Michigan but not significantly<br />

different from that of Lake Erie.<br />

Concentrations of toxic organic chemicals in Lake Huron water are<br />

summarised in Table 8. In 1974 and 1975, concentrations of DDT in<br />

Saginaw Bay exceeded the GLWQA objective of 3.0 ppt. However, all<br />

subsequent reported concentrations were substantially below the objective<br />

level (Kreis and Rice, 1985). In a review of historical data, Kreis and Rice<br />

(1985) found that all concentrations for the sum of dieldrin-aldrin were below<br />

the GLWQA objective concentration of 1 .O ppt. A single concentration of 0.5<br />

ppt had been reported for Lake Huron in 1975, considerably below the<br />

GLWQA objective of 10.0 ppt. The IJC (1981) reported that toxaphene levels<br />

in water from Lake Superior and Lake Huron ranged from 0.1 to 1 .O ppt. In<br />

Lake Huron the highest PCB concentration (191 ppt) was observed in 1979<br />

at Harbour Beach, Michigan (Anderson et aL, 1982). The highest PCB<br />

concentrations measured in 1980 were in the North Channel (1.56 ppt) and<br />

Georgian Bay (1.17 ppt)(Filkins and Smith, 1982).<br />

In 1980, a survey of toxic metal concentrations in suspended solids<br />

was conducted in Lake Huron (Rossmann, 1982) (Table 8). Particulate lead<br />

levels were somewhat lower in the southern part of the lake and in Georgian<br />

Bay than in the rest of the lake. The highest particulate cadmium concentra-

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