Dioxin, other chemicals killed Lake Ontario trout

Researchers have determined that dioxin and similar toxic chemicals were high enough in Lake Ontario to kill virtually every lake trout that hatched there from the late 1940s to the late 1980s. The findings differ from traditional explanations of overfishing and attacks by the parasitic sea lamprey as causing the collapse of Lake Ontario’s trout population.

The report was published in the September issue of the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

In one part of the work, researchers led by UW–Madison toxicologist Richard Peterson found that young lake trout are among the most sensitive fish to dioxin, PCBs and similar chemicals.