Short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins in surface sediment from Lake Ontario

Concentrations of short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs and MCCPs) were analyzed and investigated in surficial sediment collected in 2018 from ten different nearshore sites in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River influenced by inputs from varying urban and historical land uses. Sites were grouped into two categories of tributary and lake according to their location. Results show that tributary sites had higher concentrations of total chlorinated paraffin (CP) than lake sites. Humber Bay, a lake site, had the highest total CP concentration (55,000 ng/g_TOC) followed by Humber River, a tributary site (50,000 ng/g_TOC). The lowest concentrations were found in eastern Lake Ontario and Lake St. Francis in the St. Lawrence River (540 ng/g_TOC). Higher concentrations of chlorinated paraffins (CPs) were found where runoff and wastewater inputs from urban areas, current industrial activities, and population were the greatest. Levels of MCCPs were higher than SCCPs at all sites but one, Lake St. Francis. Among the SCCPs, C₁₃ and among the MCCPs C₁₄ were the dominant chain length alkanes, with C₁₄ being the highest among both groups. The SCCPs and MCCPs profiles suggest that they can be used to distinguish between sites impacted by local sources vs. sites impacted by short-/long-range transport of these chemicals.