Utility right-of-way (ROW) ditches flowing into salmon (Oncorhynchus s
pp.) streams in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island of British Col
umbia, Canada, were sampled in 1990 and 1991 to determine the presence
of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Ditches of parklands, far
mlands, and railway ROWs were also sampled to establish background and
reference PAH concentrations. While PAHs were not detected in ditches
of parklands, they were found in farmlands and in utility and railway
ROW ditches. Concentrations of PAHs averaging 5.6 mu g/L and 0.79 mg/
kg were found in ditch water and sediments of farmlands, respectively.
In utility ROW ditches, PAHs in water adjacent to treated poles avera
ged 551.7 mu g/L, compared with a mean level of 23.2 mu g/L 4 m downst
ream; is sediments collected from the same sites, the mean concentrati
on of PAHs was 15 mg/kg and 3.3 mg/kg, respectively. Soils at the base
of utility poles showed a mean PAH concentration of 3076 mg/kg, while
wood chips/splinters from treated wood poles and railway ties contain
ed about 62 000 mg/kg and 16 000 mg/kg PAHs, respectively. Levels of P
AHs found in ditch water adjacent to treated poles did not exceed the
96-h LC(50) (lethal concentration of a chemical to 50% of the test fis
h population) of salmonids and aquatic invertebrate. The biological im
plications to these animals of exposure to low level PAH-contaminated
ditch sediments are discussed.