Florida Gulf Coast University Charlotte Campus

Possible Sources of Pollution in Charlotte County
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Possible Sources of Pollution in Charlotte County
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Arsenic in the Enviroment

Want to know more about arsenic in the environment?

 
Use of Arsenic in…
Florida Cattle Ranching
Many cattle ranchers of the late 1800's used cattle dipping vats to kill the ticks on cattle.  In the Early 1900's it was mandated by the federal governement that all cattle be dipped at least every 14 days.  Each time a dipping vat was used, either a new vat was built in separate location or an old one was reused.  The alternate method was to keep the uninfected cattle isolated, however, the tick fed on indigenous animals until cattle returned to graze. 

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Picture of a Cattle DIpping Vat

  Cattle Dipping Vat Parameters
  • 2.5 – 4 feet wide
  • 5-7 feet deep
  • 20-25 feet in length
  • Drying Area from 30-100 feet in diameter

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Effects of Regional Cattle Ranching
  
  • 1940’s Carcinogens added to vats
    • DDT, BHC, Chloradane, & Toxophene
  • Highly caricnogenic
    • Airborne
    • Waterborn
    • Plant Uptake
  • No Liability to land owners because CDV’s were mandated by government
 

 
•
–Florida Agriculture & 
Golf Courses
  • Golf courses
    • Have higher amount of arsenic that preferred clean up rate of 2.1 ppm
    • Weed killers
  • Citrus Fruit
    • Arsenic used to grow citrus groves
    • Pesticides

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Phosporous and Arsenic are in very close proximity on the periodic table, and as a result the are approximately the same size.  Phosphorous is a necessary element in cellular life forms, and is important as a means of obtaining cellular fuel.  When arsenic is introduced into channels which  would normally contain a phosporous atom, it disrupts cellular mechanisms and cause the organism to die.  In this example, excess runoff of arsenic due to excessive buliding in turn leads to more impervious ground.  Impervious ground causes pollutants to runoff directly into the watershed without being filtered by the environment.  With 3,500 cattle dipping vats built between 1901 - 1961 throughout the state of Florida, the concerns for arsenic in the watershed could be very real...especially since all of the sites have not be recovered and decontaminated