Altitude profiles of total chlorinated paraffins in humus and spruce needles from the Alps (MONARPOP).
Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) are toxic, bioaccumulative, persistent, and ubiquitously present in the environment. CPs were analyzed in humus and needle samples, which were taken within the Monitoring Network in the Alpine Region for Persistent and other Organic Pollutants (MONARPOP) at sampling sites of 7 different altitude profiles in the Alps. Gas chromatography combined with electron ionization tandem mass spectrometry (EI-MS/MS) was used for the determination of total CPs (sum of short, medium and long chain CPs). CPs were found in all samples; the concentrations varied between 7 and 199 ng g(-1) dry weight (dw) and within 26 and 460 ng g(-1) dw in humus and needle samples, respectively. A clear vertical tendency within the individual altitude profiles could not be ascertained. Within all altitude profiles, elevated concentrations were observed in humus samples taken between 700 and 900 m and between 1300 and 1500 m. In the needle samples no similar correlation could be observed due to higher variation of the data.
Iozza
Saverio
S
Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research, Laboratory for Analytical Chemistry, Uberlandstrasse 129, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland. saverio.iozza@empa.ch
Schmid
Peter
P
Oehme
Michael
M
Bassan
Rodolfo
R
Belis
Claudio
C
Jakobi
Gert
G
Kirchner
Manfred
M
Schramm
Karl-Werner
KW
Kräuchi
Norbert
N
Moche
Wolfgang
W
Offenthaler
Ivo
I
Weiss
Peter
P
Simoncic
Primoz
P
Knoth
Wilhelm
W
D000531:Altitude; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000032:analysis*; D010232:Paraffin / Q000032:analysis*; D028222:Picea / Q000737:chemistry*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry*
D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D010232:Paraffin