Forgot your password?
New user?
Document Actions
Airborne Pollutants in National Parks: Sequoia Park joins Large Study Effort
Arctic and alpine lakes in North America intercept major air pathways from Eurasia. While the specific sources of airborne contaminants affecting national parks in the U.S. are currently unknown, other studies have shown that air masses leave the Asian coast heading east to the Arctic and North American West Coast across the Pacific ocean in just a few days. These areas burn great amounts of coal (a major source of mercury) and many Asian countries still use pesticides (like DDT to control malaria-carrying mosquitoes). Polychlorintaed biphenyls (PCBs) continue to be emitted from industrial sites in Russia, and abandoned industrial sites in Japan, Europe, and the USA. Formerly used defense sites are commonly local sources of PCBs in arctic North America. DDT was used as a fog to control mosquitoes on Alaskan military bases before its use was curtailed, but residues continue to be found. The limited research conducted to date indicates that airborne contaminants may be accumulating in cold environments such as lake basins in U.S. National Parks at high elevations or northern latitudes.
Research in the last couple of decades show that Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SOCs), and mercury (Hg) are persistent, can travel long distances in the atmosphere, and concentrate in cold environments. These compounds can re-emit to the atmosphere from relatively warm environments until they finally deposit and remain in colder environments. This process is known as cold-condensation. These materials are most effectively removed from the atmosphere by snow and fog, and less so by rain or dry deposition. We also know these toxic compounds biomagnify at each higher level in the food chain, and many of the organic compounds take up long-term residence in fatty tissues of animals.
This project assesses the concentrations of contaminants in snow, sediment, lake water, vegetation and fish to determine when and how rapidly these compounds have impacted these environments. Eight parks at high elevation and/or high latitude have been or will be sampled between 2003 and 2006, including Sequoia, Rocky Mountain, Glacier, Olympic, Mount Rainier, Denali, Noatak, and Gates of the Arctic National Parks.
toxic persistant chemicals, persistant organic pollutants
Rocchio, Judy. "Airborne Pollutants in National Parks: Sequoia Park joins Large Study Effort." Sierra Nature Notes, Volume 4, May 2004.
April 30, 2004 10:00 PM
Publication
Complete
None planned
Websites
Articles
Web Page / Link
Public
No Restrictions
Sequoia National Park
Emerald Lake, Pear Lake
Tulare