fishing great blue heron by matthew bohan
Part of the Murals on Frandor series, sponsored by Spicer Group, Inc.
From the artist: “Great Blue Herons are fish eating beautiful birds that are dependent on clean water and the healthy fish that live there. It is always fun to see them in the Capital area, moving slowly and carefully while hunting for food. As an avid birder, I know that many of the Capital area’s best wildlife spots are adjacent to our waterways. Keeping them healthy is important.”
bohanart.com
From Aquatic Ecologist Janice Albers: “Millions of tons of lead were introduced into our environment, especially urban lands, through decades of using lead based paint, lead solder and leaded gasoline. Even after banning these sources, legacy lead pollution in the soil is a continual source of lead exposure, especially to children.
Most of the current sources of lead pollution are from lead ammunition, batteries, vehicles and industry (e.g. smelters, refineries, metal handling). Dust contaminated with lead becomes mobile and precipitation dissolves and moves lead into waterways where it impacts the aquatic organisms. Through bioaccumulation, the higher organisms in the food chain acquire more lead through their food, such that the higher a species is in the food web, the higher the lead exposure. One example would be birds that eat contaminated fish, which had eaten contaminated zooplankton and lived in contaminated water.
Typical of most urban environments, dissolved lead was found in the water runoff and in the soil at this site at levels higher than the recommended EPA criteria. Persistent exposure to the concentrations of lead found at this site can decrease algal population growth rates; decrease reproduction in zooplankton and survival of zooplankton and invertebrates; decrease growth of trout and decrease trout and minnow survival; and alter feeding behavior, vocalizations, and movement patterns in fish eating shore birds.
Prevention of lead runoff into urban stormwater involves using lead-free building materials, containing lead contaminated soils and pollution scrubbers in smoke stacks to limit atmospheric sources. Additionally bio-filtering or bio-retention basins can be constructed to catch parking lot runoff and limit the pollution going into rivers and lakes.”
sources
Laidlaw, M. A. S. & Filippelli, G. M. Resuspension of urban soils as a persistent source of lead poisoning in children: A review and new directions. Appl. Geochemistry 23, 2021–2039 (2008).
Ettinger, A. S. & Wengrovitz, A. G. Guidelines for the identification and management of lead exposure in pregnant and lactating women. (2010).
Vighi, M. Lead uptake and release in an experimental trophic chain. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf. 5, 177–193 (1981).
Triterra. Montgomery drain drainage district water quality improvement project: pre-construction water quality investigation report. (2017).
Chao, M.-R. & Chen, C.-Y. No-observed-effect concentrations in batch and continuous algal toxicity tests. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 19, 1589–1596 (2000).
Jop, K. M., Askew, A. M. & Foster, R. B. Development of a Water-Effect Ratio for Copper, Cadmium, and Lead for the Great Works River in Maine Using Ceriodaphnia dubia and Salvefinus fontinalis. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol 54, 29–35 (1995).
Dao, L. H. T. & Beardall, J. Effects of lead on growth, photosynthetic characteristics and production of reactive oxygen species of two freshwater green algae. Chemosphere 147, 420–429 (2016).
Sharma, M. . & Selvaraj, C. S. Zinc, lead and cadmium toxicity to selected freshwater zooplankters. Pollut. Res. 13, 191–201 (1994).
Sloman, K. A., Baker, D. W., Ho, C. G., McDonald, D. G. & Wood, C. M. The effects of trace metal exposure on agonistic encounters in juvenile rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. Aquat. Toxicol. 63, 187–196 (2003).
Diamond, J. M., Koplish, D. E., McMahon, J. & Rost, R. Evaluation of the water-effect ratio procedure for metals in a riverine system. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 16, 509–520 (1997).
Burger, J. Behavioral effects of early postnatal lead exposure in herring gull (Larus argentatus) chicks. Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 35, 7–13 (1990).
Gochfeid, M. & Burger, J. Effects of lead on growth and feeding behavior of young common terns (Sterna hirundo). Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 17, 513–517 (1988).
Revitt, D. M., Lundy, L., Coulon, F. & Fairley, M. The sources, impact and management of car park runoff pollution: A review. J. Environ. Manage. 146, 552–567 (2014).