Da. Bright et al., EVIDENCE FOR SHORT-RANGE TRANSPORT OF POLYCHLORINATED-BIPHENYLS IN THE CANADIAN ARCTIC USING CONGENER SIGNATURES OF PCBS IN SOILS, Science of the total environment, 161, 1995, pp. 251-263
The Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line, a series of radar stations spann
ing the Canadian Arctic, is closing. In order to determine the environ
mental status of these installations, the Canadian Department of Natio
nal Defence has sponsored an assessment of soil contamination, the par
tial results of which are presented here. A comparison of PCB concentr
ations in background samples taken from pristine areas near the radar
sites and samples taken in remote locations (> 20 km distant) provides
evidence for short-range redistribution of PCBs. Principal component
analysis, which was used to highlight differences in congener composit
ion, provided confirmation of this observation. The PCB congener signa
tures for background samples taken at the radar sites correlated well
with PCB signatures from contaminated locations at the radar sites. In
contrast, the congener signature attributable to atmospheric, or long
-range transport, contained a relatively higher proportion of more vol
atile congeners, which can be attributed to the increased atmospheric
residence time.