Abstract
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) continue to cycle through the atmosphere and hydrosphere despite banned or severely restricted usages. Global scale analyses of POPs are challenging, but knowledge of the current distribution of these compounds is needed to understand the movement and long-term consequences of their global use. In the current study, air and seawater samples were collected Oct. 2007–Jan. 2008 aboard the Icebreaker Oden en route from Göteborg, Sweden to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Both air and surface seawater samples consistently contained α-hexachlorocyclohexane (α-HCH), γ-HCH, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), α-Endosulfan, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Sample concentrations for most POPs in air were higher in the northern hemisphere with the exception of HCB, which had high gas phase concentrations in the northern and southern latitudes and low concentrations near the equator. South Atlantic and Southern Ocean seawater had a high ratio of α-HCH to γ-HCH, indicating persisting levels from technical grade sources. The Atlantic and Southern Ocean continue to be net sinks for atmospheric α-, γ-HCH, and Endosulfan despite declining usage.
Department
Civil Engineering
Publication Date
4-1-2017
Journal Title
Science of The Total Environment
Publisher
Elsevier
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Luek, J.L., Dickhut, R.M., Cochran, M.A., Falconer, R.L., Kylin, H. 2017. Persistent organic pollutants in the Atlantic and Southern Oceans and oceanic atmosphere. Science of the Total Environment 583, 64-71.
Comments
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Elsevier in Science of The Total Environment in 2017, available online: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.12.189. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/