Evidence for short-range transport of polychlorinated biphenyls in the Canadian Arctic using congener signatures of PCBs in soils

Occurrence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) together with sediment properties in the surface sediments of the Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea and Canada Basin

“…In comparison, the concentrations in our study areas were one or two magnitudes lower than that in the marine sediments of the mid-and western Russian Arctic (Sericano et al, 2001;Savinov et al, 2003), Norwegian Arctic (Evenset et al, 2007;Jiao et al, 2009;Sapota et al, 2009), Saglek Bay, Labrador, Canada (Kuzyk et al, 2005) and Gulf of Alaska (Iwata et al, 1994a), where mineral exploration, military activities and harbors were more active (Bright et al, 1995;de March et al, 1998;Michelutti et al, 2009). When compared with a study in the BS and CS (Iwata et al, 1994a), P PCB concentrations showed either no change or only a slight decrease.…”

Redistribution of Polychlorinated Biphenyls from a Local Point Source: Terrestrial Soil, Freshwater Sediment, and Vascular Plants as Indicators of the Halo Effect

“…Concentrations of congeners reflecting the Aroclor 1260 signature (149, 132/153 138/163/164, and 180) exceeded those typically seen (DIAND, 1997) in samples receiving inputs only from long-range transport, even in the samples collected 25 and 27 km from the site (L14 and L19, respectively). Therefore, the halo of PCB contamination around Saglek may extend up to 27 km from the site (i.e., a halo with diameter .50 km) and is larger than has been demonstrated previously for contaminated sites in the Arctic (Bright et al, 1995;Dushenko et al, 1996).…”

“…While long-range transport of organic contaminants is well known and understood, local source redistribution is less well documented and accepted. Previous studies conducted by our group around DEW Line radar stations have provided evidence that contaminant concentrations in the environment up to 20 km from the source of contamination were impacted by short-range transport of contaminants from the local source (Bright et al, 1995;Dushenko et al, 1996), creating a ''halo'' of contamination.…”

Short-range transport of contaminants released from e-waste recycling site in South China

“…Therefore, it is helpful to investigate the transport processes of these contaminants and understand their potential risks on surrounding areas resulting from the e-waste recycling practices. Reimer et al [21][22][23][24] studied the SRT of PCBs in the Canadian Arctic by comparing their congener patterns and showed PCBs would affect the surrounding environment up to 27 km. In addition, camphor tree leaves were used as biomonitors to evaluate diffusion of PBDEs from an e-waste recycling site to the surrounding regions in Southeast China, and results showed areas within 74 km may be influenced by PBDEs.…”