STRAIGHTEN UP - Natural Awakenings

Keeping the Great Lakes
by susan campbell
Indeed, more than half the
samples of Great Lakes water
analyzed show the presence
of the now-notorious
bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical
used in various plastics, including
baby bottles and food packaging.
But BPA represents just a fraction
of the contaminants that make up
what some researchers look upon
as a vast chemical soup, stretching
from Minnesota to New York.
The Alliance for the Great Lakes
recently released a study that takes a
hard look at existing data on chemicals
and chemical byproducts in
the lakes, and what science tells us
that could mean for our health. The
upshot? There’s too little data from
the lakes and not enough understanding
of the effects of these so-called
emerging contaminants.
What is known is worth worrying
about. Emerging contaminants have
been implicated in hormone disruption
and cancers, although few studies have
looked at long-term impacts in drinking
water or the combined effects of
multiple chemicals.
“Exposure to some of these
chemicals… is cause for consternation,”
warns the report’s lead author,
Dr. Rebecca Klaper, of the Great Lakes
—Great
WATER Institute, in Milwaukee.
Study co-author Lyman Welch, of
the Alliance, urges reforming the federal
Toxic Substances Control Act to
better protect the public from known
dangerous chemicals. “The current
federal law is broken,” he says.
The Alliance for the Great Lakes is
the oldest independent citizen’s organization
devoted 100 percent to the Great
Lakes. Its professional staff works with
scientists, policymakers, businesses,
community groups and everyday citizens
to protect and restore the world’s
largest surface freshwater resource.
Want to get involved? Visit the
Great Lakes Action Center (Great
Lakes.org/Emerging) to read more
and download the study, learn about
pending conservation legislation
and make your voice heard to your
elected representatives.
Susan Campbell is the Alliance for
the Great Lakes manager of communications
programs and co-author,
with Earth Day founder and former
U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson, of Beyond
Earth Day: Fulfilling the Promise, assessing
the state of the environment
and environmental movement three
decades after the first Earth Day.
Ever wonder
what’s in Great
Lakes water?
You’re not alone.
Evidence of our
reliance on
chemicals in
everything from
pesticides to
pharmaceuticals
to antibacterial
hand sanitizers is
found in the water.
natural awakenings October 2011
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