Study finds contamination in Minnesota’s lakes, rivers

Published 10:31 am Tuesday, June 2, 2015

ST. PAUL — A new study by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has found widespread contamination by pharmaceutical drugs and other chemicals in the state’s lakes and rivers.

Researchers with the agency found 27 chemicals in the lakes they studied. When studying rivers, they found 56 chemicals downstream of four wastewater treatment plants and 33 chemicals upstream of the plants.

Minnesota Public Radio News reports that commonly found chemicals included DEET, disinfectants, antibiotics, hormones and pharmaceutical drugs.

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More than 90 percent of the lake samples used in the study contained DEET, the active ingredient in insect repellent.