Current-Use and Legacy Pesticide History in the Austfonna Ice Cap, Svalbard, Norway

Abstract

The Svalbard archipelago in arctic Norway receives considerable semivolatile organic contaminant (SOC) inputs from the atmosphere. To measure the history of net SOC accumulation there, we analyzed the upper 40 m of an ice core from Austfonna, the largest ice cap in Eurasia, for several legacy organochlorine (OC) compounds and currentuse pesticides (CUPs) including organophosphorus (OP), triazine, dinitroaniline, and chloroacetamide compounds. Five OP compounds (chlorpyrifos, terbufos, diazinon, methyl parathion, and fenitrothion), two OCs (methoxychlor and dieldrin), and metolachlorsan herbicideshad historical profiles in the core. The highest OC concentration observed was aldrin (69.0 ng L -1 ) in the surface sample (1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998). The most concentrated OP was dimethoate (87.0 ng L -1 ) between 1986 and 1992. The surface sample also had highest concentrations of pendimethalin (herbicide, 18.6 ng L -1 ) and flutriafol, the lone observed fungicide (9.6 ng L -1 ). The apparent atmospheric persistence of CUPs likely results from little or no oxidation by OH • during the dark polar winter and in spring. Long-range atmospheric pesticide transport to Svalbard from Eurasia is influenced by the positive state of the North Atlantic Oscillation Index since 1980 and also by occasional fast-moving summer air masses from northern Eurasian croplands.

Distribution and Air–Sea Exchange of Current-Use Pesticides (CUPs) from East Asia to the High Arctic Ocean

“…Individual standards of chlorothalonil, trifluralin, chlorpyrifos, dacthal, dicofol, and a pesticide-mix 163 containing α-endosulfan and β-endosulfan were purchased from Dr. Ehrenstorfer GmbH, Germany. Trifluralin-d 14 (surrogate) and 13 C-HCB were purchased from Cambridge Isotope Laboratories. PCB-207 was also obtained from Dr. Ehrenstorfer GmbH.…”

The role of the global cryosphere in the fate of organic contaminants

“…Utilization of firn and ice cores in the Arctic is providing insight into the recent (< decade) and longer-term (multi-decadal) accumulation history of POPs and other organic contaminants (e.g. currently used pesticides, brominated flame retardants, PFCAs) (Young et al 2007;Hermanson et al, 2005Hermanson et al, , 2010Ruggirello et al, 2010;Meyer et al, 2012). Contaminant accumulation in ice is unlikely to provide accurate depositional fluxes for a given year due to the post-depositional processes that can occur, such as revolatilization, degradation, deposition of POP-bearing particles to snow by wind pumping, or movement with percolating meltwater.…”

Ecological Risk Assessment for Chlorpyrifos in Terrestrial and Aquatic Systems in the United States

“…This mass of air could be conveyed to higher altitudes and into a region of lesser concentrations of •OH, faster transport, and lower temperatures, which could enable the associated CPY to travel thousands of km. It is thus not surprising that small but detectable concentrations can be found in remote locations such as Svalbard (Hermanson et al 2005;Muir et al 2004). The largest concentration of 16 ng CPY L −1 was found in ice from Svalbard in the 1980s, but concentrations measured more recently are generally <1 ng CPY L −1 .…”

“…Observations of detectable amounts of CPY at greater distances, such as 1,000 km, suggest that, at least under certain conditions, the half-life is longer than was assumed in this analysis. For example, significant concentrations of CPY have been measured in the Svalbard ice-cap (Hermanson et al 2005). It is likely that these residues originated from Russia and were transported at times of lesser temperatures, greater wind speeds, and limited photolysis, which results in a longer CTD of the order of 300-1,000 km.…”