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Quagga mussels a toxic threat to Lake Mead; Because of what they eat and excrete, quagga mussels could poison lake

Posted by: Maven on November 9, 2009 at 6:26 am

From the Las Vegas Sun:

“Anyone who doubts that the quagga mussels in Lake Mead are a critical issue should consider this warning from the experts: If the quaggas are not stopped, they could poison the lake.

Years before they showed up in Southern Nevada, the little mollusks colonized the Great Lakes, and researchers there have found that the rise in their quagga populations correlates with increases in dangerous toxins. There are two reasons for this: poop and algae. Quaggas can poop poison pellets and can turn swaths of open lake into algae-filled dead zones.

The scoop on the poop is this: Each mussel works like a tiny liver, absorbing toxins and heavy metals such as mercury, selenium, polychlorinated biphenyls (known as PCBs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (or PAHs) from the lake water in a process called bioaccumulation.

But quaggas are not content to do a good deed. They later expel those chemicals and metals — in the form of a highly concentrated pellet. Those toxic pellets sink to the lake floor. …”

Read more from the Las Vegas Sun by clicking here.

November 9, 2009 · Filed Under Las Vegas & Nevada

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