Sea spray as a secondary source of chlorinated persistent organic pollutants? - Conclusions from a comparison of seven fresh snowfall events in 2019 and 2021

• Published in: Science of The Total Environment
• Main Authors: Pawlak, Filip, Koziol, Krystyna, Frankowski, Marcin, Nowicki, Łukasz, Marlin, Christelle, Sulej-Suchomska, Anna, Maria, Polkowska, Żaneta
• Other Authors: Gdańsk University of Technology (GUT), Kazimierz Wielki University (UKW), Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu = Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (UAM), Géosciences Paris Saclay (GEOPS), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Gdynia Maritime University
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: OCPs; PCBs; Snow; Marine aerosol; Arctic; Atmospheric transport; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; Hornsund
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04484302; https://hal.science/hal-04484302/document; https://hal.science/hal-04484302/file/Pawlak%20et%20al%202023%20STOTEN.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164357

International audience Secondary sources of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) gain in importance worldwide as primary sources decline. In this work, we aim to determine whether sea spray may be a secondary source of chlorinated POPs to the terrestrial Arctic, since a similar mechanism was proposed there only for the more water-soluble POPs. To this end, we have determined polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides concentrations in fresh snow and seawater collected in the vicinity of the Polish Polar Station in Hornsund in two sampling periods covering spring 2019 and 2021. To support our interpretations, we include also metal and metalloid, and stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopes analysis in those samples. A significant correlation was found between the concentrations of POPs and the distance from the sea at the sampling point, yet the confirmation of sea spray impact lies more in capturing an event with negligible long-range transport influence where the detected chlorinated POPs (Cl-POPs) matched in composition the compounds enriched in the sea surface microlayer, which is both a source of sea spray and a seawater microenvironment rich in hydrophobic substances.