The Alps, seen as a pristine ecosystem, act as a magnet for toxic pollutants drawn from the atmosphere, a new international study shows

In the icy lakes above the tree line, fish are contaminated with DDT from the tropics where the insecticide is used extensively against malaria

 

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[ MEMORIAL TO VICTIMS ]

To:     Lyndon Hawkins <hawkins@empm.cdpr.ca.gov>
          Senior Research Scientist
          State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation - Integrated Pest Management

Dear Lyndon, I thought you might like to read an article on how badly your "registered" POISONS drift and cause long-term contamination problems - Formally pristine Alpine lakes are trapping "Dirty Dozen" POISONS!

INNSBRUCK, Austria (Reuters) - The Alps, seen as a pristine ecosystem, act as a magnet for toxic pollutants drawn from the atmosphere, a new international study shows.

In the icy lakes above the tree line, fish are contaminated with DDT from the tropics where the insecticide is used extensively against malaria.

``We found that fish in the most contaminated lakes have 1,000 times more DDT than lower-lying lakes,'' Innsbruck University professor Roland Psenner told Reuters.

Along with other scientists, he is preparing to publish the results of a European Union study into fish living in lakes around the freezing point between Spain and Norway. He said the subzero temperatures around the Alpine peaks caused DDT that evaporated over Africa or India to humidify and fall as precipitation in a process known as ``global distillation.''

``It circles around the earth where it is warm and gets trapped over cold regions,'' Psenner said. ``We knew about DDT at the poles, but not that it is also common in the Pyrenees and here in the Alps.''

DDT is a synthetic insecticide that acts as a contact poison against a wide variety of bugs. Its use has been prohibited in Europe for more than 15 years because of its toxic effects on  animals as it accumulates in the food chain.

FISH SHOW STRESS IN HIGH-ALTITUDE LAKES

In Austria, researchers have concentrated on a trio of tiny lakes in a nature reserve at an altitude of about 8,000 feet. Some 20 miles from Tirolean capital Innsbruck, and accessible only by ski lift, their waters have polar-like temperatures.

``These lakes are covered with ice for eight to nine months,'' Psenner said.

Because of their altitude, the lakes have no natural fish population but Hapsburg Emperor Maximilian I is believed to have introduced the red-speckled ``Danube trout'' to Gossenkoelle Lake around 1500.

Despite their isolation from agriculture or heavy industry, the fish show stress symptoms due to a high accumulation of persistent organic pollutants known as POPs, Psenner said. Contamination is below levels the EU considers damaging to human health and the trout are seldom eaten.

Psenner also said the amount of DDT found in the lakes posed no danger to drinking water. But the hormone-like effects of some POPs, including DDT, are still being investigated. These ``endocrine disrupters'' interfere with the hormone level of animals, apparently affecting their sexual organs.

Psenner said statistics published in the British medical journal ``The Lancet'' last December supported the long-suspected link between DDT and cancer.

ALPS REMOTE, NOT PRISTINE

Scientists have not yet studied the effect of airborne toxic pollutants on other Alpine wildlife such as chamois, marmots, rabbits and ermine.

``We have always said we have pristine ecosystems ... in the meantime we have gone to saying 'remote but not pristine,'''  Psenner said. He said even slight temperature changes affected whether POPs get trapped over the world's freezing zones as they change their state between solid, liquid and gas.

``The substances go up into the air, come down with precipitation and hop on further until they get caught in a cold trap,'' he said, calling it the ``grasshopper effect.''

With an annual average air temperature around freezing near Gossenkoelle Lake, POPs rarely regain their gaseous state and lift off for another journey around the earth.

``The colder it is, the more these substances accumulate,'' Psenner said. He said a planned worldwide ban on toxic pollutants known as the ``dirty dozen,'' including DDT, would clean up Alpine ecosystems but had met with opposition from leading scientists who say the move could result in millions of deaths from malaria in developing countries.

``It is not unethical to want to protect our ecosystem,''  Psenner said. ``It is unethical that Third World countries have not been offered anything better than DDT for 50 years.''

Copyright © 2000 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters Limited content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters Limited. Reuters Limited shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

Well Lyndon, when will it be "ethical" (in your opinion) to use safe and far more effective unregistered alternatives to actually control pest problems in California rather than continuing to only allow the use your dangerous "registered" POISONS/CONTAMINANTS?

Respectfully,  Stephen L. Tvedten

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