Spring Melt and the Redistribution of Organochlorine Pesticides in the Sea-Ice Environment: A Comparative Study between Arctic and Antarctic Regions

TY - JOUR

T1 - Spring Melt and the Redistribution of Organochlorine Pesticides in the Sea-Ice Environment

T2 - A Comparative Study between Arctic and Antarctic Regions

AU - Bigot, Marie

AU - Hawker, Darryl W.

AU - Cropp, Roger

AU - Muir, Derek C. G.

AU - Jensen, Bjarne

AU - Bossi, Rossana

AU - Nash, Susan M. Bengtson

PY - 2017/8/15

Y1 - 2017/8/15

N2 - Complementary sampling of air, snow, sea-ice, and seawater for a range of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) was undertaken through the early stages of respective spring sea-ice melting at coastal sites in northeast Greenland and eastern Antarctica to investigate OCP concentrations and redistribution during this time. Mean concentrations in seawater, sea-ice and snow were generally greater at the Arctic site. For example, α-HCH was found to have the largest concentrations of all analytes in Arctic seawater and sea-ice meltwater samples (224-253 and 34.7-48.2 pg·L -1 respectively compared to 1.0-1.3 and <0.63 pg·L -1 respectively for Antarctic samples). Differences in atmospheric samples were generally not as pronounced however. Findings suggest that sea-ice OCP burdens originate from both snow and seawater. The distribution profile between seawater and sea-ice showed a compound-dependency for Arctic samples not evident with those from the Antarctic, possibly due to full submersion of sea-ice at the former. Seasonal sea-ice melt processes may alter the exchange rates of selected OCPs between air and seawater, but are not expected to reverse their direction, which fugacity modeling indicates is volatilisation in the Arctic and net deposition in the Antarctic. These predictions are consistent with the limited current observations.

AB - Complementary sampling of air, snow, sea-ice, and seawater for a range of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) was undertaken through the early stages of respective spring sea-ice melting at coastal sites in northeast Greenland and eastern Antarctica to investigate OCP concentrations and redistribution during this time. Mean concentrations in seawater, sea-ice and snow were generally greater at the Arctic site. For example, α-HCH was found to have the largest concentrations of all analytes in Arctic seawater and sea-ice meltwater samples (224-253 and 34.7-48.2 pg·L -1 respectively compared to 1.0-1.3 and <0.63 pg·L -1 respectively for Antarctic samples). Differences in atmospheric samples were generally not as pronounced however. Findings suggest that sea-ice OCP burdens originate from both snow and seawater. The distribution profile between seawater and sea-ice showed a compound-dependency for Arctic samples not evident with those from the Antarctic, possibly due to full submersion of sea-ice at the former. Seasonal sea-ice melt processes may alter the exchange rates of selected OCPs between air and seawater, but are not expected to reverse their direction, which fugacity modeling indicates is volatilisation in the Arctic and net deposition in the Antarctic. These predictions are consistent with the limited current observations.

KW - PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS

KW - HEMISPHERE HUMPBACK WHALES

KW - LONG-RANGE TRANSPORT

KW - SOUTHERN-OCEAN

KW - EAST ANTARCTICA

KW - TEMPORAL TRENDS

KW - CLIMATE-CHANGE

KW - ALPHA-HCH

KW - WATER

KW - ATMOSPHERE

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85027441051&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.7b02481

DO - 10.1021/acs.est.7b02481

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 28715890

SN - 0013-936X

VL - 51

SP - 8944

EP - 8952

JO - Environmental Science & Technology (Washington)

JF - Environmental Science & Technology (Washington)

IS - 16

ER -