Organophosphorus compounds (OPs) being applied as flame retardants and plasticizers were investigated in airborne particles over the Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Southern Ocean. Samples taken during two polar expeditions in 2010/11, one from East Asia to the high Arctic (CHINARE 4) and another from East Asia toward the Indian Ocean to the Antarctic (CHINARE 27), were analyzed for three halogenated OPs (tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), tris(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCPP) and tris(1,3-dichloro-2-isopropyl) phosphate (TDCP)), four alkylated OPs (tri-n-butyl phosphate (TnBP), tri-iso-butyl phosphate (TiBP), tris(2-butoxyethyl)phosphate (TBEP), and tris(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEHP)), and triphenyl phosphate (TPhP). The sum of the eight investigated OPs ranged from 230 to 2900 pg m(-3) and from 120 to 1700 pg m(-3) during CHINARE 4 and CHINARE 27, respectively. TCEP and TCPP were the predominating compounds, both over the Asian seas as well as in the polar regions, with concentrations from 19 to 2000 pg m(-3) and 22 to 620 pg m(-3), respectively. Elevated concentrations were observed in proximity to the Asian continent enhanced by continental air masses. They decreased sharply toward the open oceans where they remained relatively stable. This paper shows the first occurrence of OPs over the global oceans proving that they undergo long-range atmospheric transport over the global oceans toward the Arctic and Antarctica.

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Dechlorane Plus (DP), a highly chlorinated flame retardant, was investigated in marine boundary layer air and surface seawater from East Greenland Sea and in the Northern and Southern Atlantic toward Antarctica. The concentrations of DP ranged from 0.05 to 4.2 pg m(-3) in the atmosphere and from

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Seawater and air samples were collected aboard the FS Polarstern during the cruises ANT-XXV/1 + 2 in the Atlantic and Southern Ocean in 2008. The particulate and dissolved phase in water and particulate and gaseous phase in air were analyzed separately for nine polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and six non-PBDE brominated flame retardants (BFRs). Air concentrations of 2,3-dibromopropyl-2,4,6-tribromophenyl ether (DPTE) and hexabromobenzene (HBB) in the gaseous and particulate phase (median = 0.56 pg m(-3) for DPTE and 0.92 pg m(-3) for HBB) were comparable to ∑(9)PBDEs (1.0 pg m(-3)). Pentabromotoluene (PBT) was detectable in ∼30% of the gaseous phase samples, whereas concentration of 2,4,6-tribromophenyl allylether (ATE), hexachlorocyclopentenyl-dibromocyclooctane (HCDBCO) and 2-ethyl-1-hexyl 2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoate (EHTBB) were below their method detection limits. DPTE, and PBDEs were also found in seawater at low pg per liter levels. Elevated seawater concentrations of PBDEs and DPTE were measured in the English Channel and close to South African coast. Concentrations of DPTE, BDE-47, and BDE-99 in the atmosphere generally decreased from Europe toward the Southern Ocean, whereas no latitudinal trend was observed in seawater. Air-water exchange gradients suggested net deposition dominates for all selected substances. The medians of net deposition fluxes for the air-water gas exchange were 83, 21, 69, 20, and 781 pg m(-2) day(-1) for BDE-47, BDE-100, BDE-99, DPTE, and HBB, whereas medians of dry deposition fluxes were 2.0, 0.3, 1.2, 1.0, and 0.5 pg m(-2) day(-1) for BDE-47, BDE-100, BDE-99, DPTE, and HBB. Overall, these results highlight the important role of the long-range atmospheric transport of PBDE and non-PBDE BFRs to remote regions.