In this study, we measured the concentrations of 58 flame retardants (and related compounds) in bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) egg and plasma samples from the Michigan. These analytes include polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), novel flame retardants (nFRs), Dechlorane-related compounds (Decs), and organophosphate esters (OPEs). A total of 24 paired eaglet plasma and egg samples were collected from inland (IN, N = 13) and the Great Lakes (GL, N = 11) breeding areas from 2000 to 2012. PBDEs were the most abundant chemical group with a geometric mean of 181 ng/g wet weight (ww) in egg and 5.31 ng/g ww in plasma. Decs were barely found in plasma samples, but they were frequently found in eggs (geometric mean 23.5 ng/g ww). OPE levels were comparable to those of PBDEs in the plasma but lower than those of PBDEs in eggs. Dec and PBDE concentrations were significantly higher in GL than in IN (p < 0.05). The ratio of egg to plasma concentrations (lipid normalized) varied with chemicals and correlated with the chemical's octanol-water partition coefficient. The lipid normalized bald eagle egg and plasma concentrations from Lake Superior and Huron were one to three orders of magnitude higher than concentrations measured in composite lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) from the same lake, implying that they biomagnify in the environment.

A mass balance model for mercury based on the fugacity concept is applied to Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Onondaga Lake and Little Rock Lake to evaluate model performance, analyze cycling of three mercury species groups (elemental, divalent and methyl mercury), and identify important processes that determine the source-to-concentration relationship of the three mercury species groups in these lakes. This model application to four disparate ecosystems is an extension of previous applications of fugacity-based models describing mercury cycling. The model performs satisfactorily following site-specific parameterization, and provides an estimate of minimum rates of species interconversion that compare well with literature. Volatilization and sediment burial are the main processes removing mercury from the lakes, and uncertainty analyses indicate that air-water exchange of elemental mercury and water–sediment exchange of divalent mercury attached to particles are influential in governing mercury concentrations in water. Any new model application or field campaign to quantify mercury cycling in a lake should consider these processes as important.

Data from 104 sediment cores from the Great Lakes and “inland lakes” in the region were compiled to assess historical and recent changes in mercury (Hg) deposition. The lower Great Lakes showed sharp increases in Hg loading c. 1850–1950 from point-source water dischargers, with marked decreases during the past half century associated with effluent controls and decreases in the industrial use of Hg. In contrast, Lake Superior and inland lakes exhibited a pattern of Hg loading consistent with an atmospheric source – gradual increases followed by recent (post-1980) decreases. Variation in sedimentary Hg flux among inland lakes was primarily attributed to the ratio of watershed area:lake area, and secondarily to a lake’s proximity to emission sources. A consistent region-wide decrease (∼20%) of sediment-Hg flux suggests that controls on local and regional atmospheric Hg emissions have been effective in decreasing the supply of Hg to Lake Superior and inland lakes.

Knowledge of the partitioning and sources of mercury are important to understanding the human impact on mercury levels in Lake Superior wildlife. Fluvial fluxes of total mercury (HgT) and methylmercury (MeHg) were compared to discharge and partitioning trends in 20 sub-basins having contrasting land uses and geological substrates. The annual tributary yield was correlated with watershed characteristics and scaled up to estimate the basin-wide loading. Tributaries with clay sediments and agricultural land use had the largest daily yields with maxima observed near the peak in water discharge. Roughly 42% of HgT and 57% of MeHg was delivered in the colloidal phase. Tributary inputs, which are confined to near-shore zones of the lake, may be more important to the food-web than atmospheric sources. The annual basin-wide loading from tributaries was estimated to be 277 kg yr⁻¹ HgT and 3.4 kg yr⁻¹ MeHg (5.5 and 0.07 mg km⁻² d⁻¹, respectively).

Current and historical concentrations of 22 poly- and perfluorinated compounds (PFASs) in sediment collected from Lake Superior and northern Lake Michigan in 2011 and Lake Huron in 2012 are reported. The sampling was performed in two ways, Ponar grabs of surface sediments for current spatial distribution across the lake and dated cores for multi-decadal temporal trends. Mean concentrations of the sum of PFASs (∑PFASs) were 1.5, 4.6 and 3.1 ng g−1 dry mas (dm) in surface sediments for Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron, respectively. Of the five Laurentian Lakes, the watersheds of Superior and Huron are the less densely populated by humans, and concentrations observed were typically less and from more diffuse sources, due to lesser urbanization and industrialization. However, some regions of greater concentrations were observed and might indicate more local, point sources. In core samples concentrations ranged from <LOQ to 46.6 ng g−1 dm among the three lakes with concentrations typically increasing with time. Distributions of PFASs within dated cores largely corresponded with increase in use of PFASs, but with physiochemical characteristics also affecting distribution. Perfluoroalkyl sulfonates (PFSAs) with chain lengths >7 that include perfluoro-n-octane sulfonate (PFOS) bind more strongly to sediment, which resulted in more accurate analyses of temporal trends. Shorter-chain PFASs, such as perfluoro-n-butanoic acid which is the primary replacement for C8 PFASs that have been phased out, are more soluble and were identified in some core layers at depths corresponding to pre-production periods. Thus, analyses of temporal trends of these more soluble compounds in cores of sediments were less accurate. Total elemental fluorine (TF) and extractable organic fluorine (EOF) indicated that identified PFASs were not a significant fraction of fluorine containing compounds in sediment (<0.01% in EOF).

Plastic pollution in the world's oceans has received much attention, but there has been increasing concern about the high concentrations of plastic debris in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Using census data and methodologies used to study ocean debris we derive a first estimate of 9887 metric tonnes per year of plastic debris entering the Great Lakes. These estimates are translated into population-dependent particle inputs which are advected using currents from a hydrodynamic model to map the spatial distribution of plastic debris in the Great Lakes. Model results compare favorably with previously published sampling data. The samples are used to calibrate the model to derive surface microplastic mass estimates of 0.0211 metric tonnes in Lake Superior, 1.44 metric tonnes in Huron, and 4.41 metric tonnes in Erie. These results have many applications, including informing cleanup efforts, helping target pollution prevention, and understanding the inter-state or international flows of plastic pollution.

Large-scale copper (Cu) mining activities in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula produced millions of metric tons of mining wastes also known as stamp sands. The stamp sands containing high concentrations of Cu were disposed of into several lakes connected to the Lake Superior. Eventually, as aquatic organisms in these lakes started to exhibit toxicity symptoms, the stamp sands were dredged and discarded on the lake shores. Consequently, these areas turned into degraded, marginal lands and were collectively classified as a Torch Lake Superfund site by the US EPA. Due to the lack of vegetative cover, the Cu-rich stamp sands eroded into the lakes, affecting the aquatic life. To alleviate this issue, a sustainable restoration plan (SRP) was developed and tested in a greenhouse environment prior to field implementation. Cold-tolerant oilseed crops, camelina (Camelina sativa) and field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense), were grown on compost-fertilized stamp sands, which reduced soil erosion by acting as a vegetative cap. Oilseed plants produced normal yield, demonstrating their potential utilization as biofuel feedstock. Prior to implementing the SRP in field-scale in the Torch Lake Superfund site, a public opinion survey of the local community was conducted to understand the views of residents. Door-to-door survey was performed in July–August 2015, which yielded a response rate of 68.1%. Results showed that residents were generally concerned with stamp sand erosion into the Torch Lake and were overwhelmingly supportive of the SRP, which would not only provide environmental benefits but could boost the local economy via biofuel production. To gauge the general environmental awareness of the respondents, the survey included questions on climate change. Most of the respondents acknowledged that climate change is real and anthropogenically mediated. Having college education and a relatively high annual household income showed a positive and significant correlation with climate change awareness.

Lake Taihu, as the important drinking water source of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration and the third largest freshwater lake in China, has experienced serious lake eutrophication and water quality deterioration in the past three decades. Growing scientific, political, and public attention has been given to the water quality of Lake Taihu. This study aimed to conduct a comparative quantitative and qualitative analysis of the development, current hotspots, and future directions of Lake Taihu research using a bibliometric analysis of eight well-studied lakes (Lake Taihu, Lake Baikal, Lake Biwa, Lake Erie, Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario, Lake Superior and Lake Victoria) around the world based on the Science Citation Index (SCI) database. A total of 1582 papers discussing Lake Taihu research were published in 322 journals in the past three decades. However, the first paper about Lake Taihu research was not found in the SCI database until 1989, and there were only zero, one, or two papers each year from 1989 to 1995. There had been rapid development in Lake Taihu research since 1996 and a sharp increase in papers since 2005. A keyword analysis showed that “sediment,” “eutrophication”, “Microcystis aeruginosa”, “cyanobacterial blooms”, and “remote sensing” were the most frequently used keywords of the study subject. Owing to its significant impact on aquatic ecosystems, a crucial emphasis has been placed on climate change recently. In addition, the future focuses of research directions, including (1) environmental effects of physical processes; (2) nutrient cycles and control and ecosystem responses; (3) cyanobacteria bloom monitoring, causes, forecast and management; (4) eutrophication and climate change interactions; and (5) ecosystem degradation mechanism and ecological practice of lake restoration, are presented based on the keyword analysis. Through multidisciplinary fields (physics, chemistry, and biology) cross and synthesis study of Lake Taihu, the development of shallow lake limnology will be largely promoted.

Laboratory and field studies were conducted to evaluate the importance of periphyton in western Lake Superior with special reference to the make-up and distribution of the periphyton growths and to the overall importance of productive capacity of this assemblage of organisms. The taxonomic portion of the investigation indicated that over 90% of the total number of organisms were diatoms and that the phyla to which these diatoms belonged were the Chrysophyta, the Chlorophyta, and the Cyanophyta. Predominant genera were Synedra, Achnanthes, Navicula, Cymbella, and Gomphonema. In many respects, the periphyton of Lake Superior was similar to that found in streams and there was evidence that the interrelated factors that affected periphyton growths were temperature, light intensity, depth of water, water movements, nutrient levels, and the type of substrate.