Brief communication: Organochlorine pesticides in an archived firn core from Law Dome, East Antarctica

Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were, for the first time, quantified in archived firn cores from East Antarctica representative of 1945–1957 and 1958–1967 (current era, C.E.). The core sections were melted under high-purity nitrogen atmosphere, and the meltwater was analysed. Methods allowed quanti...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Cryosphere
Main Authors: Bigot, Marie, Curran, Mark AJ, Moy, Andrew D, Muir, Derek CG, Hawker, Darryl W, Cropp, Roger, Teixeira, Camilla F, Nash, Susan M Bengtson
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2016
Subjects:
Oceanography
Physical geography and environmental geoscience
Other environmental sciences not elsewhere classified
Antarc*
Antarctica
East Antarctica
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10072/100710
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2533-2016
Description
Summary:Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were, for the first time, quantified in archived firn cores from East Antarctica representative of 1945–1957 and 1958–1967 (current era, C.E.). The core sections were melted under high-purity nitrogen atmosphere, and the meltwater was analysed. Methods allowed quantification of hexachlorocyclohexanes, heptachlor, trans-chlordane, dieldrin and endrin. While the core presented evidence of nominal contamination by modern-use chemicals, indicating handling and/or storage contamination, legacy OCP concentrations and deposition rates reported are orders of magnitude lower than those from Arctic regions, lending support for their validity. The study further provides a description of equipment used and suggests methods to overcome logistical challenges associated with trace organic contaminant detection in polar regions. Griffith Sciences, Griffith School of Environment Full Text

Similar Items