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Deposition History of Polychlorinated Biphenyls to the Lomonosovfonna Glacier, Svalbard: A 209 Congener Analysis

Environmental Science & Technology2013Vol. 47(21), pp. 12064–12072

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Olga Garmаsh, Mark H. Hermanson, Elisabeth Isaksson, Margit Schwikowski, Dmitry Divine, Camilla Teixeira, Derek C. G. Muir

Abstract

A 37 m deep ice core representing 1957-2009 and snow from 2009 to 2010 were collected on the Lomonosovfonna glacier, Svalbard (78.82° N; 17.43° E) and analyzed for 209 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners using high-resolution mass spectrometry. Congener profiles in all samples showed the prevalence of tetra- and pentachlorobiphenyls, dominated in all samples by PCB-44, PCB-52, PCB-70 + PCB-74, PCB-87 + PCB-97, PCB-95, PCB-99, PCB-101, and PCB-110. The ∑PCB flux varied over time, but the peak flux, ∼19 pg cm(-2) year(-1) from 1957 to 1966, recurred in 1974-1983, 1998-2009, and 2009-2010. The minimum was 5.75 pg cm(-2) year(-1) in 1989-1998, following a 15 year decline. Peak ∑PCB fluxes here are lower than measured in the Canadian Arctic. The analysis of all 209 congeners revealed that PCB-11 (3,3'-dichlorobiphenyl) was present in all samples, representing 0.9-4.5% of ∑PCB. PCB-11 was not produced in a commercial PCB product, and its source to the Arctic has not been well-characterized; however, our results confirm that the sources to Lomonosovfonna have been active since 1957. The higher fluxes of ∑PCB correspond to periods when average 5 day air mass back trajectories have a frequency of 8-10% and reach 60° N or beyond over northern Europe and western Russia or the North Sea into the U.K.

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Abstract

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