Time Trend Analysis of Atmospheric POPs Concentrations in the Great Lakes Region Since 1990

Abstract

Using a multiple linear regression model of the concentrations of several persistent organic pollutants in the atmospheric vapor and particle phases and in precipitation, we have analyzed a data set of about 700,000 values to determine the rate at which these concentrations are decreasing. These concentrations were measured as part of the Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network (IADN), which has operated several sites near the North American Great Lakes since 1991. The pollutants measured include 83 polychlorinated biphenyl congeners, 17 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and 24 organochlorine pesticides. In the approach used here, for each of the three phases, the concentrations of a specific chemical at all the sites were combined and fitted with a regression incorporating the sine and cosine of the Julian Day (relative to 1 January 1990 and with a periodicity of one year) and the population living and working within a 25-km radius of the sampling site. Partial residuals were then calculated for each datum, all of the residuals for the three phases were combined, and an overall halving time was calculated from them. This relatively simple approach indicated that the concentrations of PCBs in air around the Great Lakes are decreasing with an overall halving time of 17 ± 2 years, which is slow for a substance that was banned about 35 years ago. Phenanthrene, chrysene, and endosulfan showed halving times on the order of 10 years. The concentrations of several organochlorine pesticides were decreasing more rapidly; for example α- and γ-HCH (lindane) have halving times of about 3.5 years.

Revised Temporal Trends of Persistent Organic Pollutant Concentrations in Air around the Great Lakes

“…Later, four more years of data were added, and we used a partial harmonic regression method to combine the time trend analyses of the vapor and particle phases at all sites. 7 More recently, we presented time trends for PCBs and organochlorine insecticides using only vapor phase data from 1992 to 2010 at three sites; 8 in this case, the statistical analyses were based on annual averages. We have also reported time trends for all compounds in all phases at only Point Petre using a harmonic regression method for data analysis.…”

Analysis of polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides in archived dried blood spots and its application to track temporal trends of environmental chemicals in newborns

“…Since the 1970s, the use of PCBs and several OCPs was severely restricted or banned in the United States (Muir and Howard 2006). As a consequence, the levels of these chemicals have decreased in environmental and biological matrixes (Sun et al 2006; Venier and Hites 2010). However, detectable levels of PCBs and OCPs have been found in the United States’ general population (Sjödin et al 2014).…”

Methylsulfonyl polychlorinated biphenyls in fish from an electronic waste‐recycling site in South China: Levels, congener profiles, and chiral signatures

“…Environmental PCB levels have significantly declined in industrialized countries where these chemicals were manufactured and used (mostly in capacitors and transformers) [2,3]. On the other hand, significant primary sources remain in some areas in Asia and Africa regions, the main destination points of electronic waste (e-waste) produced in industrialized nations [4].…”