PARENT SESSION
TA9 - Atmospheric Fate Processes
Chair: Simonich, Staci 1, 1 1141 ALS, Corvallis, OR, USA
Co-chair: Landers, Dixon 2, 2 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR, USA
8:00 AM to 12:00 PM - Tuesday, 19 November 2002
Room Ballroom E
(403) POPs in Fish and Alpine Snowpack from Southwestern British Columbia, Canada.
Shaw, Patrick*,1, Gray, Colin1, 1 Environment Canada, Vancouver, BC, CANADA
ABSTRACT- Studies of organochlorine pollutant residues in fish, birds, mammals and snow from remote Arctic and alpine sites in Canada and elsewhere in North America have shown surprisingly high concentrations of atmospherically transported contaminants. Sample sites are often distant of potential sources, and evidence is increasing that emissions throughout the northern hemisphere are contributing to contaminant loading to these areas. However, the significant environmental factors which control deposition rates and the processes which result in local accumulation in biota have not been fully identified. This survey explored some of these potential factors and assessed the extent and significance of POPs residues in south west British Columbia through the analysis of selected organochlorine compounds in: 1) fish tissues from remote lakes and reservoirs and, 2) high-elevation snowpack. Dominant salmonid species were sampled from a total of 17 lakes and reservoirs covering a wide range of physiographic conditions (elevation (0-1435m), watershed basin area/character, bathymetry) in SW BC. Skin-off muscle fillets were analyzed for a range of non-ortho PCB congeners, organochlorine pesticides and toxaphene. Snow samples were collected from a total of 9 high elevation (1200 to 2450m) sites in the mountains surrounding the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia. The snow was melted (68-75L total volume), extracted with XAD-2 resin, and analyzed for a suite of PCB congeners, OC pesticides and toxaphene.
Key words: POPs, pesticides, atmospheric transport