MELTING GLACIERS LEACH FORGOTTEN CHEMICALS
October 1st, 2009
BY EMMA JACKSON
'OUT of sight, out of mind' may have worked for chemical cleanups in the 1950s, but now Swiss researchers have discovered banned chemicals used more than 50 years ago are turning up in glacial lake sediments through climate change-induced glacial melting.
Receding glaciers in the Swiss Alps are releasing high levels of long-trapped 'legacy pollutants' such as persistent organic pollutants, organochlorine pesticides and synthetic musk fragrances into nearby lakes and ecosystems. There is concern these locked up chemicals will leach into rivers ...
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