title: Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the atmosphere of three Chilean cities using passive air samplers.
abstract: In this study passive air samplers containing polyurethane foam (PUF) disks were deployed in three cities across Chile; Santiago (STG) (n=5, sampling sites), Concepciόn (CON) (n=6) and Temuco (TEM) (n=6) from 2008 to 2009. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (7 indicator congeners), chlorinated pesticides hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethanes (DDTs) and flame retardants such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were determined by gas chromatography coupled mass spectrometry (GC/MS). A sampling rate (R) typical of urban sites (4m3/day) was used to estimate the atmospheric concentrations of individual compounds. PCB concentrations in the air (pg/m3) ranged from ~1-10 (TEM), ~1-40 (STG) and 4-30 (CON). Higher molecular weight PCBs (PCB-153, -180) were detected at industrial sites (in Concepción). The HCHs showed a prevalence of γ-HCH across all sites, indicative of inputs from the use of lindane but a limited use of technical HCHs in Chile. DDTs were detected with a prevalence of p,p'-DDE accounting for ~50% of the total DDTs. PBDE concentrations in air (pg/m3) ranged from 1 to 55 (STG), 0.5 to 20 (CON) and from 0.4 to 10 (TEM), and were generally similar to those reported for many other urban areas globally. The pattern of PBDEs was different among the three cities; however, PBDE-209 was dominant at most of the sites. These results represent one of the few assessments of air concentrations of POPs across different urban areas within the same country. These data will support Chilean commitments as a signatory to the Stockholm Convention on POPs and for reporting as a member country of the Group of Latin America and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC) region.
authors.affiliation: Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Facultad de Ciencias, Concepción, Chile; Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Ambientes Sustentables (CIBAS), Concepción, Chile; Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, Research Center for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Brno, Czech Republic; Universitá degli Studi di Siena, Dipartimento Scienze fisiche, della Terra e dell'ambiente, Siena, Italy. Electronic address: Kpozo@ucsc.cl.
authors.forename: Karla
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pozo
authors.affiliation: Ministery of the Environment (MMA), Air Quality Division and Climate change, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Germán
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Oyola
authors.affiliation: Universitá degli Studi di Siena, Dipartimento Scienze fisiche, della Terra e dell'ambiente, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Victor H
authors.initials: VH
authors.lastname: Estellano
authors.affiliation: Air Quality Processes Research Section, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Harner
authors.affiliation: Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Facultad de Ciencias, Concepción, Chile.
authors.forename: Anny
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rudolph
authors.affiliation: Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, Research Center for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Prybilova
authors.affiliation: Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, Research Center for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kukucka
authors.affiliation: Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, Research Center for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Ondrej
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Audi
authors.affiliation: Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, Research Center for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Klánová
authors.affiliation: Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Facultad de Ciencias, Concepción, Chile; Universitá degli Studi di Siena, Dipartimento Scienze fisiche, della Terra e dell'ambiente, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: America
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Metzdorff
authors.affiliation: Universitá degli Studi di Siena, Dipartimento Scienze fisiche, della Terra e dell'ambiente, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Focardi
keywords: Chile; GRULAC; PAS-PUF; PBDEs; POPs; Urban atmosphere