A Reconnaissance Survey of the Environmental Chemistry in East-Central Ellesmere Island, N.W.T.

Abstract

Snow-pack and surface water samples were collected from east-central Ellesmere Island near Cape Herschel between May and August in 1979-81 to ascertain whether anthropogenic pollution was detectable in a remote pristine arctic environment. Snow-pack samples were analyzed for organochlorine pesticide residues, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, and chlorophenoxy herbicides. Precipitation and surface water samples were analyzed to determine whether the region has been subjected to acid rain. In addition, the surface water samples were analyzed for as many as 35 inorganic parameters to provide background data on the water quality of the region. Measurable concentrations of Lindane (gamma BHC) and its isomer alpha BHC, HEOD (dieldrin), and DDT were detected at a number of sites, but no polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) or chlorophenoxy herbicides were detected. The pattern of pesticide residues in this remote area of the Arctic is presumptive evidence that the residues are globally dispersed through the atmosphere. Only copper and the lithophilic metals aluminum and iron were consistently detectable in the snow-pack and surface water samples; all other metals were at or below their detection limits. Thus anthropogenic inputs of metal contaminants such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, selenium, and vanadium, via atmospheric deposition, were not detected in this region. Although acid rain was not in evidence in the study area, the surface waters of the local ponds and lakes, many of which are ombrogenic, are potentially susceptible to changes in the acidity of the atmospheric aerosol of the high Arctic. Key words: snow-pack, precipitation, pesticides, PAHs, rain, water chemistry, metals, Arctic, Ellesmere Island