title: Current-use and legacy pesticide history in the Austfonna Ice Cap, Svalbard, Norway.
abstract: The Svalbard archipelago in arctic Norway receives considerable semivolatile organic contaminant (SOC) inputs from the atmosphere. To measure the history of net SOC accumulation there, we analyzed the upper 40 m of an ice core from Austfonna, the largest ice cap in Eurasia, for several legacy organochlorine (OC) compounds and current-use pesticides (CUPs) including organophosphorus (OP), triazine, dinitroaniline, and chloroacetamide compounds. Five OP compounds (chlorpyrifos, terbufos, diazinon, methyl parathion, and fenitrothion), two OCs (methoxychlor and dieldrin), and metolachlor--an herbicide--had historical profiles in the core. The highest OC concentration observed was aldrin (69.0 ng L(-1)) in the surface sample (1992-1998). The most concentrated OP was dimethoate (87.0 ng L(-1)) between 1986 and 1992. The surface sample also had highest concentrations of pendimethalin (herbicide, 18.6 ng L(-1)) and flutriafol, the lone observed fungicide (9.6 ng L(-1)). The apparent atmospheric persistence of CUPs likely results from little or no oxidation by OH* during the dark polar winter and in spring. Long-range atmospheric pesticide transport to Svalbard from Eurasia is influenced by the positive state of the North Atlantic Oscillation Index since 1980 and also by occasional fast-moving summer air masses from northern Eurasian croplands.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. markhh@sas.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Mark H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Hermanson
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Isaksson
authors.forename: Camilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: Derek C G
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Muir
authors.forename: Kevin M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Compher
authors.forename: Y F
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Igarashi
authors.forename: Kokichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kamiyama
mesh_terms: D001272:Atmosphere; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D006540:Herbicides / Q000032:analysis; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000032:analysis; D007053:Ice / Q000032:analysis*; D009664:Norway; D010575:Pesticides / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006540:Herbicides; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D007053:Ice; D010575:Pesticides