Climate change influence on the levels and trends of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and chemicals of emerging Arctic concern (CEACs) in the Arctic physical environment - a review

• Published in: Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts
• Main Authors: Hung, Hayley, Halsall, Crispin, Ball, Hollie, Bidleman, Terry, Dachs, Jordi, De Silva, Amila, Hermanson, Mark, Kallenborn, Roland, Muir, Derek, Sühring, Roxana, Wang, Xiaoping, Wilson, Simon
• Other Authors: orcid:
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) 2022
• Subjects: Climate change; POPs; Persistent organic pollutants; Chemicals of emerging Arctic concern (CEACs); http://metadata.un.org/sdg/13; Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Canada; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice; permafrost; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/268372; https://doi.org/10.1039/d1em00485a; https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85127085491

Climate change brings about significant changes in the physical environment in the Arctic. Increasing temperatures, sea ice retreat, slumping permafrost, changing sea ice regimes, glacial loss and changes in precipitation patterns can all affect how contaminants distribute within the Arctic environment and subsequently impact the Arctic ecosystems. In this review, we summarized observed evidence of the influence of climate change on contaminant circulation and transport among various Arctic environment media, including air, ice, snow, permafrost, fresh water and the marine environment. We have also drawn on parallel examples observed in Antarctica and the Tibetan Plateau, to broaden the discussion on how climate change may influence contaminant fate in similar cold-climate ecosystems. Significant knowledge gaps on indirect effects of climate change on contaminants in the Arctic environment, including those of extreme weather events, increase in forests fires, and enhanced human activities leading to new local contaminant emissions, have been identified. Enhanced mobilization of contaminants to marine and freshwater ecosystems has been observed as a result of climate change, but better linkages need to be made between these observed effects with subsequent exposure and accumulation of contaminants in biota. Emerging issues include those of Arctic contamination by microplastics and higher molecular weight halogenated natural products (hHNPs) and the implications of such contamination in a changing Arctic environment is explored. HH is grateful to the support of the Northern Contaminants Program (Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada) and the Government of Canada Chemicals Management Plan for funding most of her work on Arctic contaminant fate and climate change influence over the last 20 years. CH is grateful for the EISPAC project (NE/R012857/1), part of the Changing Arctic Ocean programme, jointly funded by the UKRI Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the German Federal Ministry of ...