| Summary: | Part II of the second Canadian Arctic Contaminants Assessment Report (CACAR-II) began with a section on “Physicochemical Properties of Persistent Organic Pollutants”, which identified key physicochemical (pchem) properties, provided the rationale for their measurement or prediction and tabulated literature citations for chemicals that are of concern to the NCP (Bidleman et al. 2003). The section also discussed temperature dependence of pchem properties and their applications to describing partitioning in the physical environment. There is, and will continue to be, emphasis on predictive approaches to screening chemicals for persistence, bioaccumulation and toxic (PB&T)properties, as well as long-range atmospheric transport (LRAT) potential (Brown and Wania 2008, Czub et al. 2008, Fenner et al. 2005, Gouin andWania 2007, Howard and Muir 2010, Klasmeier et al. 2006, Matthies et al. 2009, Muir and Howard 2006). This has created the need for determining pchem properties of new and emerging chemicals of concern. Predicting gas exchange cycles of legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and new and emerging chemicals of concern places a high demand on the accuracy of pchem properties, particularly the air/water partition coefficient, KAW. Hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) in Arctic Ocean surface waters are close to air-water equilibrium, with excursions toward net volatilization or deposition that vary with location and season (Hargrave et al. 1993, Jantunen et al. 2008a, Lohmann et al. 2009, Su et al. 2006, Wong et al. 2011) while hexachlorobenzene (HCB) (Lohmann et al. 2009, Su et al. 2006, Wong et al. 2011) and some current use pesticides (CUPs) (Wong et al. 2011) are undergoing net deposition. The predicted Arctic Contamination Potential (ACP) for persistent organic chemicals is strongly influenced by ice cover due to its effect on air-water gas exchange (Meyer and Wania 2007). Many advances have taken place and numerous papers have been published since CACAR-II, which present new measurements and predictions of pchem properties. This section does not attempt to provide a comprehensive review of the field, or to compile pchem properties from the many studies. The approach taken is to highlight the reports which are most relevant to polar science, particularly in areas of improving reliability of pchem properties for POPs, improving experimental techniques and comparing predictive methods. The section ends with a discussion of polyparameter linear free energy relationships (pp-LFERs), which goes beyond partitioning descriptions based on single pchem properties by taking into account specific chemical interactions that can take place in airsurface and water-surface exchange processes. A detailed list of chemical names and nomenclature are provided in the Glossary. Reviewers Chapter 2: Susan Bengtson Nash (Griffith University, Australia), Knut Breivik (Norwegian Institute forAir Research, Norway)
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