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ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS
Citation:
Glass, G., W. Strachan, W. Willford, F. Armstrong, AND K. Kaiser. ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-77/042 (NTIS PB271769), 1977.
Description:
Organic pollutants may constitute the most widespread waste loadings into the waters of Lake Superior. There are essentially three categories of organic contaminants. The first grouping consists of those organic compounds that readily degrade biologically or chemically. The second category of organic contaminants is comprised of less readily degraded organic compounds which may be directly toxic to aquatic life and to consumers of aquatic life, which may be bioconcentrated to toxic levels, or which may be metabolized to a more toxic form and stored in higher organisms. The third category consists of the many organic compounds that can cause taste and odor problems in domestic water supplies or taint the flesh of food fishes. Identification of individual organic compounds is difficult in environmental samples, and currently the state of the art is developing. The analytical methodology employed for all studies was based on extraction of non-ionic compounds. The data presented in this document for specific contaminants are only a representative portion of the data available.