title: Organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls along an east-to-west gradient in subtropical North Atlantic surface water.
abstract: Despite the fact that most persistent toxic substances have hardly been primarily emitted for several decades, their concentrations are only slowly decreasing in the global oceans. Surface seawater samples were collected along a 38°-24° N/28°-67° W transect in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean. While the concentration levels of hexachlorobenzene (2.1-6.1 pg L-1), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT, up to 2.1 pg L-1) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB, 10.8-24.9 pg L-1) were in the same range as observed earlier in the North Atlantic, hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH, 90-627 pg L-1) was found elevated, partly also relative to previous measurements in the same sea region. Hereby, the ratio α-HCH/γ-HCH was very low, 0.09-0.13. Chlordane and endosulfan were found in the range <3.0-11.1 and <5.8-8.8 pg L-1respectively. DDT metabolites, endrin and related pesticides were found below quantification limits. Spatial pollution patterns in surface seawaters seem to be determined by atmospheric and oceanic transport patterns, rather than by mixing and air-sea equilibrium. The comparison with global multicompartment chemistry-transport model predictions of surface seawater levels indicate underestimated degradation of PCBs and overestimated emissions of endosulfan.
authors.affiliation: Multiphase Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany. g.lammel@mpic.de.|Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. g.lammel@mpic.de.
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2313-0628
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lammel
authors.affiliation: Centre for Earth System Research and Sustainability, Institute for Geology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spitzy
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Ondřej
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Audy
authors.affiliation: Centre for Earth System Research and Sustainability, Institute for Geology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Beckmann
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Garry P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Codling
authors.affiliation: Centre for Earth System Research and Sustainability, Institute for Geology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.|Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH), Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Lisett
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kretzschmann
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.|Man-Technology-Environment Research Centre, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kukučka
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Stemmler
mesh_terms: D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000032:analysis*; D010575:Pesticides / Q000032:analysis*; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis*; D012623:Seawater / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D010575:Pesticides; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls
keywords: Environmental fate; Ocean pollution; Persistent organic pollutants; Trace analytical chemistry