Organochlorine Pesticide and Polychlorinated Biphenyl Concentrations in Snow, Snowmelt, and Runoff at Bow Lake, Alberta

Abstract

We present analyses of the concentrations of organochlorine (OC) contaminants (including organochlorine pesticides and PCBs) in snow, snowmelt, and runoff in glacier and snowmelt fed streams at Bow Lake, Alberta in two contrasting hydrological years (1997 and 1998). The study investigates the variability in OC burdens in snow across the catchment, the elution of OCs from the snowpack, and the relationship between OC concentrations in streams and the annual snowpack. Snowpacks in forested sites were thinner and had lower OC concentrations than snowpacks in open or sparsely vegetated sites. The first snowmelt samples exhibited very high contaminant concentrations relative to the snowpack, and even the more hydrophobic compounds (Dieldrin, DDTs, and PCBs) were highly concentrated in meltwater. Interannual changes in the mean OC concentrations in streams did not reflect year-to-year changes in the snowpack contaminant concentrations. The results indicate that the extent of glacial ice melt may be more important than mean snowpack burdens as a control on OC concentrations in runoff in glacial catchments.