Pollution in Polar Regions: New Findings Emphasize Local Sources and Emerging Contaminants
Katrin Vorkamp, Aarhus University; Rainer Lohmann, The University of Rhode Island; Francesca Spataro, Italian National Research Council, Institute of Polar Science, and Zhiyong Xie, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon
The session “Legacy and emerging organic contaminants in the global ocean and polar regions: Long-range transport, local sources and climate change impacts” at the SETAC Europe 35th Annual Meeting in Vienna, Austria, had received 39 contributions, addressing Arctic or Antarctic pollution as well as pollution in other remote locations or at the global scale. In our role as session chairs, we selected nine platform presentations, three poster spotlights and the remaining 27 for poster presentations.
The session showed an increasing complexity of pollution in polar regions where local sources and many chemicals of emerging concern (CECs) add to the existing knowledge of long-range transport of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Local sources can be linked to human activity, with increasing tourism as an interesting example: Belen Gonzalez-Gaya and Lisa Melymuk showed for the Antarctic and Arctic, respectively, that tourists cause local emissions of contaminants via consumer products and wastewater. However, Magali Houde reported that POP monitoring of ringed seals in the Arctic was marginally influenced by local sources, confirming that long-term contaminant time series mainly reflect long-range transport of contaminants. The question of local sources vs. long-range transport of contaminants had also been the topic of a recent assessment by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), of which Cynthia de Wit presented main conclusions and recommendations for further work and monitoring.
Several contributions addressed the influence of climate change on pollution, either through modeling studies, as presented by Ingjerd Krogseth and Knut Breivik; reviews, led by Derek Muir; field investigations, presented by Ida Huusmann Knøfler, Gesine Witt and Amanda Souza; or a combination of approaches, as shown by Knut Erik Tollefsen. While substantial changes are expected in the fate and accumulation of contaminants, the interactions between changes in emissions and effects of a warming climate with all its repercussions in ecosystems and the physical environment are difficult to predict. Derek Muir highlighted that local emissions in the Arctic are likely to increase with increasing human activity; however, they might be mitigated by technological solutions or management actions.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) continue to receive attention as reflected in presentations from both polar regions and global approaches. Zhiyong Xie and Imogen Bailes showed the presence of PFAS at the global scale and in the Southern Ocean, respectively, including the occurrence of several less-studied PFAS, and connected it to long-range transport pathways in oceans and air. Similarly, Rainer Lohmann presented PFAS in Arctic wildlife and humans, with increasing trends of perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), in a cross-cutting Arctic study initiated by AMAP. In addition to this evidence of bioaccumulation of long-chain PFAS, shorter-chain PFAS were also detected in drinking water, as presented by Belen Gonzalez-Gaya. Partial degradation of perfluorosulfonic acids (PFSAs) seemed possible via microbial desulfurization in the study by Clara Serrano Loriga.
Microplastics (MPs) were another important pollution type and therefore picked as a topic for the three poster spotlight presentations. Aleksandra Karapetrova and Tristan Zimmermann documented the presence of MPs in snow and Arctic waters, respectively, and the incorporation in sea ice was studied by Denise Mitrano. The exposure of Arctic fauna to MPs was also discussed: Giula Vitale presented the accumulation of MPs in amphipods, while Susanne Brander showed that shrimps exposed to polyester microfibers were affected in their growth and behavior.
Finally, studies based on non-target screening approaches revealed multiple CECs in the polar environments. Linyan Zhu deteced pharmaceuticals, personal care products, industrial chemicals, pesticides and PFAS in marine mammals from Nordic waters, and Xaiaodi Shi identified about 80 new compounds in Arctic sediment. The use of Antarctic sediment cores for time series of POPs and CECs was further demonstrated by Jun-Tae Kim. Based on target analysis, a wide range of CECs, such as synthetic musks, plasticizers and flame retardants, were found in Antarctic soil by Zhiyong Xie and co-workers, presumably related to combinations of long-range transport and local sources.
The session ”Legacy and emerging organic contaminants in the global ocean and polar regions: Long-range transport, local sources and climate change impacts” indicated or confirmed several emerging pollution issues in remote and polar regions, but it also presented strategies and techniques how to address them. As some analytical techniques, such as non-target screening and MP polymer identification, are under rapid development, we can expect more evidence in the future, hopefully providing a solid basis for risk assessments and regulatory evaluations.
For more information, please contact one of the session chairs: Katrin Vorkamp, Rainer Lohmann, Francesca Spataro, and Zhiyong Xie.