Today's Messages

Please join the Great Lakes Center and Biology Department for the seminar "The Forever Problem: PFAS in the Great Lakes, food webs, and sub-lethal effects in fish," presented by Dr. Daniel Miranda at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, May 4, in SAMC 151. All are welcome.

Research Abstract: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are pervasive and persistent contaminants in aquatic environments, posing growing risks to both ecosystem and human health. In the Great Lakes, these and other contaminants are widely distributed across water, sediment, and biota, reflecting complex transport pathways and environmental persistence. Understanding the processes that govern contaminant fate, bioavailability, and biological effects is essential for accurate risk assessment and effective management. Top predators, including native and introduced salmonids, often accumulate high contaminant burdens, creating potential exposure risks for human consumers. Beyond their role in pelagic food webs, salmon also act as vectors of contaminant transfer to tributaries during spawning migrations. The deposition of contaminants through eggs and carcasses introduces these compounds into riverine systems, exposing early life stages of fish, wildlife, and even anglers, forming what can be described as a “lake–riverine contaminant cycle.” However, the mechanisms driving this transfer and its sub-lethal effects on early life stages remain poorly understood. At a basin-wide scale, patterns in contaminant distribution reveal spatial trends, including increasing concentrations from west to east across the Great Lakes. While legacy compounds such as PFOS have declined following regulatory phase-outs in the early 2000s, emerging contaminants continue to be detected, highlighting the evolving nature of this problem. In this talk, I integrate environmental chemistry and food web ecology to quantify contaminant pathways and effects, advancing a predictive framework to inform monitoring, management, and protection of Great Lakes ecosystems and fisheries.