At Crater Lake NP, Trees Rich In PCBs, DDT, Two Other Pesticides - OregonLive

[hatrack]

The snow-covered trees around Crater Lake National Park may be miles from civilization, but they still contain industrial PCBs, the banned pesticide DDT and at least two currently used pesticides. The fish in Golden Lake at Mount Rainier National Park carry relatively high levels of toxic flame retardants. And the DDT measured in fish at Montana's Glacier National Park is higher than levels found in fish studies from Africa, even though the United States phased out DDT production in 1972 and Africa still uses it for mosquito control.

Those findings come from a six-year study of airborne contamination in 20 Western national parks and monuments released this week. Yosemite and Kings Canyon, in California; and Rocky Mountain, in Colorado, are also cited as having surprising levels of pollution.

With the exception of mercury in some fish, the study -- conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Oregon State University -- didn't find contaminants at levels likely to harm campers, anglers and hikers.

But it illustrates the surprisingly broad reach of industrial and agricultural chemicals, both banned and current. And, contrary to the scientists' expectations, it found that most of the pollution was coming from cities and farms relatively near the parks, not floating on the jet stream from power plants and manufacturing sites in China or elsewhere overseas. "The message here is that the world's a really small place," said Carl Schreck, a professor at Oregon State University who collected and examined fish for the study. "If you mess up your bed you have to sleep in it, that's the bottom line."

EDIT

http://blog.oregonlive.com/pdxgreen/2008/02/crater_lake_other_national_par.html

[wolverinez]

1. I was sad to see that

Even our great national parks are subject to pollution. It's also not surprising most of this comes from our own back yards, rather than overseas.

http://www.parkcamper.com/