Eastern Canadian Arctic

TCDD was detected in adipose tissue samples of two herds in the eastern Canadian Arctic at levels of 0.73 and 0.14 ng/kg, but was not detected in tissue samples from other herds at detections limits as low as 0.03 ng/kg (lipid basis). CDF levels were sub-ng/kg in all cases. TEQs were dominated by non-ortho substituted PCBs in all cases, and ranged from 0.33 ng/kg to 3.29 ng/kg in adipose tissue. The authors concluded that caribou tissues are therefore less contaminated than tissues from marine mammals. 

Figure 4.15 Plot ofa-HBCDD enantiomer fractions (EFs) versus trophic level within an eastern Arctic food web. Clams, narwhal, beluga, and walrus had EF values statistically different than that of an external standard. (Reproduced with permission from Environmental Science and Technology, Enantioselective Bioaccumulation of Hexabromocyclododecane and Congener-Specific Accumulation of Brominated Diphenyl Ethers in an Eastern Canadian Arctic Marine Food Web, by Gregg T. Tomy, Kerri Pleskach et al., 42(10), 3634-3639. Copyright (2008) American Chemical Society)...

Tomy, G.T. Pleskach, K. Oswald, T. Halldorson, T. Helm, P.A. Macinnis, G. Marvin, C.H., Enantioselective bioaccumulation of hexabromocyclododecane and congener-specific accumulation of brominated diphenyl ethers in an eastern Canadian arctic marine food web Environ. Sci. Technol. 2008, 42, 3634-3639. 

Helm, R, Bidleman, T., Stern, G., Koczanski, K. Polychlorinated naphthalenes and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls in beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) and ringed seal Phoca hispida) from the eastern Canadian Arctic. Environmental Pollution, 119(1) 69-78 (2002). 

Two Batfish profiles of chlorophyll and copepods (sampled in the eastern Canadian Arctic) were separated by volume into their component species and are shown in Figure 5. The separation shows that both Calanus finmarchicus Stage V and Calanus glacialis Stage V are situated 5 m above the chlorophyll maximum, whereas Calanus hyperboreus Stages V and VI were situated primarily at or below the chlorophyll maximum. Such examples illustrate the species identification potential of the electronic counter and the resolution capabilities of the system for isolating species in the water column. 

Figure 4. (a) Microscopic measurements of volume distribution of copepods sampled by Batfish in the eastern Canadian Arctic. The dominant copepods identified were 3, C. finmarchicus V 4, C. glacialis, 5, C. hyperboreus V and 6, C. hyperboreus VI. Low abundances were found among 1-Pseudoca-lanus minutus and C. hyperboreus III. (b) Volume distribution of copepods from the same samples as in a as measured by the electronic zooplankton... 

Eastern Canadian Arctic. In August 1980, ecological studies were conducted in Baffin Bay near the Greenland coast bounded by 75-76° N and 68-72° W. Figure 12 shows two typical profiles of temperature, salinity, chlorophyll, and total copepods from near surface to 100-m depth. The surface-mixed-layer depth extended to only 15 m with salinity values from 31.5 to 33.0 ppt, which indicate the influence of glacial runoff. The subsurface chlorophyll maximum was situated below a sharp thermocline that ranged from 1.0 to -1.5 °C. However, copepods were mainly situated above the chlorophyll maximum within the thermocline itself. 

Figure 12. Two Batfish profiles of copepods, chlorophyll, temperature, and salinity sampled in the eastern Canadian Arctic. The chlorophyll maximum is located at the base of the thermocline (15).

In a more all encompassing classification, Doubleday (1999) produced a morphologically based description for all combustion derived particles collected in the eastern Canadian Arctic (including those from waste incineration, aircraft emission and domestic burning), where the fly-ash particles considered in this chapter formed classes, However, this was only used as a classification tool and not for fuel-type apportionment of the fly-ash particles. When applied to sediment material from the same area the results were expressed in terms of percentages of total particles or as percentages of total combustion particles. 

The majority of biological monitoring studies to date have focused on PFOSA, PFSAs and PFCAs. FTCAs and FTUCAs have been observed in some species, including seabirds and seals from the Canadian Arctic [107, 197], suggesting that FTOHs may be a source of the observed PFCAs. Two studies have also investigated the presence of other FSAs in biological samples. Tomy et al. [87] have observed NEtFOSA in an Eastern Arctic marine food web, while Taniyasu et al. [182] have observed NEtEOSA in beaver fiver samples. 

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