Is Glacial Meltwater a Secondary Source of Legacy Contaminants to Arctic Coastal Food Webs?

Climate change-driven increases in air and sea temperatures are rapidly thawing the Arctic cryosphere with potential for remobilization and accumulation of legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in adjacent coastal food webs. Here, we present concentrations of selected POPs in zooplankton (spat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental Science & Technology
Main Authors: Mcgovern, Maeve, Warner, Nicholas Alexander, Borgå, Katrine, Evenset, Anita, Carlsson, Pernilla Marianne, Skogsberg, Stina Linnea Emelie, Søreide, Janne, Ruus, Anders, Christensen, Guttorm, Poste, Amanda
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American chemical society 2022
Subjects:
Arctic
Svalbard
arctic cryosphere
Climate change
Isfjord*
Isfjorden
Phytoplankton
Zooplankton
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10037/25654
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c07062
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Summary:Climate change-driven increases in air and sea temperatures are rapidly thawing the Arctic cryosphere with potential for remobilization and accumulation of legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in adjacent coastal food webs. Here, we present concentrations of selected POPs in zooplankton (spatially and seasonally), as well as zoobenthos and sculpin (spatially) from Isfjorden, Svalbard. Herbivorous zooplankton contaminant concentrations were highest in May [e.g., ∑polychlorinated biphenyls ( 8 PCB); 4.43, 95% CI: 2.72−6.3 ng/g lipid weight], coinciding with the final stages of the spring phytoplankton bloom, and lowest in August (∑ 8 PCB; 1.6, 95% CI: 1.29−1.92 ng/g lipid weight) when zooplankton lipid content was highest, and the fjord was heavily impacted by sediment-laden terrestrial inputs. Slightly increasing concentrations of α-hexachlorocyclohexane (α-HCH) in zooplankton from June (1.18, 95% CI: 1.06−1.29 ng/g lipid weight) to August (1.57, 95% CI: 1.44−1.71 ng/g lipid weight), alongside a higher percentage of α-HCH enantiomeric fractions closer to racemic ranges, indicate that glacial meltwater is a secondary source of αHCH to fjord zooplankton in late summer. Except for α-HCH, terrestrial inputs were generally associated with reduced POP concentrations in zooplankton, suggesting that increased glacial melt is not likely to significantly increase exposure of legacy POPs in coastal fauna.

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