The BOREAS Information System

TGB-7: Atmospheric Transport of Agricultural Pesticides into the Boreal Ecosystem

P.I.(s): Don T. Waite -- Environment Canada

Objectives: To measure the deposition in the boreal forest of seven herbicides (2, 4-D, bromoxynil, dicamba, MCPA, triallate, trifluralin and diclop-methyl) known to appear in the atmosphere of the Canadian prairies, three herbicides (atrazine, alaclor and metlaclor) commonly used in the central United States and known to be deposited in precipitation in the forest and three groups of insecticides (toxaphene, lindane and breakdown products and DDT and breakdown products) reported from the literature and from unpublished data to occur in boreal and arctic food chains.

Sampling locations were:

1. Regina atmospheric study site (source of herbicides originating in prairie Canada)
2. BOREAS site in Saskatchewan (southern boreal forest)
3. Yellowknife NWT Env. Can. site (northern boreal forest)
4. Inuvik AES meteorological station (northernmost boreal forest site)
5. Iqaluit (a remote site on the eastern arctic).

Sediment core samples were collected from Great Slave Lake (Yellowknife) in the winter of 1992 and from both Montreal L. or Waskesiu L. (BOREAS) in the winter of 1993. The cores will be sectioned and analyzed for the same pesticides as the atmospheric samples. The result will be a measurement of yearly deposition rate of pesticides.

Location: NSA and SSA

TGB-7 Pictures

Fireweed and bumble bee in Manitoba

TGB-7 Data Sets