title: Atmospheric monitoring of organic pollutants in the Arctic under the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP): 1993-2006.
abstract: Continuous and comparable atmospheric monitoring programs to study the transport and occurrence of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the atmosphere of remote regions is essential to better understand the global movement of these chemicals and to evaluate the effectiveness of international control measures. Key results from four main Arctic research stations, Alert (Canada), Pallas (Finland), Storhofdi (Iceland) and Zeppelin (Svalbard/Norway), where long-term monitoring have been carried out since the early 1990s, are summarized. We have also included a discussion of main results from various Arctic satellite stations in Canada, Russia, US (Alaska) and Greenland which have been operational for shorter time periods. Using the Digital Filtration temporal trend development technique, it was found that while some POPs showed more or less consistent declines during the 1990s, this reduction is less apparent in recent years at some sites. In contrast, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were still found to be increasing by 2005 at Alert with doubling times of 3.5 years in the case of deca-BDE. Levels and patterns of most POPs in Arctic air are also showing spatial variability, which is typically explained by differences in proximity to suspected key source regions and long-range atmospheric transport potentials. Furthermore, increase in worldwide usage of certain pesticides, e.g. chlorothalonil and quintozene, which are contaminated with hexachlorobenzene (HCB), may result in an increase in Arctic air concentration of HCB. The results combined also indicate that both temporal and spatial patterns of POPs in Arctic air may be affected by various processes driven by climate change, such as reduced ice cover, increasing seawater temperatures and an increase in biomass burning in boreal regions as exemplified by the data from the Zeppelin and Alert stations. Further research and continued air monitoring are needed to better understand these processes and its future impact on the Arctic environment.
authors.affiliation: Air Quality Research Division, Science and Technology Branch, Environment Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada. hayley.hung@ec.gc.ca
authors.forename: Hayley
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kallenborn
authors.forename: Knut
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Breivik
authors.forename: Yushan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brorström-Lundén
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Olafsdottir
authors.forename: Johanna M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Thorlacius
authors.forename: Sirkka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leppänen
authors.forename: Rossana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bossi
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Skov
authors.forename: Stein
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Manø
authors.forename: Gregory W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Patton
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: Ed
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sverko
authors.forename: Phil
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fellin
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001110:Arctic Regions; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000737:chemistry*; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D033161:Government Regulation; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000032:analysis; D006581:Hexachlorobenzene / Q000032:analysis; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000032:analysis; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000032:analysis*; D010575:Pesticides / Q000032:analysis; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D010575:Pesticides; D006581:Hexachlorobenzene; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls