Research and Monitoring of Atmospheric Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Polar Atmosphere

Abstract

Atmospheric monitoring of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) belongs to the longest surveys performed in the Arctic regions on a national and on a regional level coordinated by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP). The first long atmospheric monitoring of POPs in the Arctic started already in the 1980s in Canada and Norway. Those national programs provided important information on Long range atmospheric transport properties of POPs for the follow up of international regulations and conventions. In the course of the International Polar Year 2007–2009 (IPY), the first long term atmospheric monitoring program for POPs was established at the Norwegian Antarctic Research facilities at Trollhaugen, Dronning-Maud Land, Antarctica. The program was designed similar as the well-established Arctic program in Ny-Alesund (Svalbard, Arctic Norway). During IPY 2007-2009, A variety of other Atmospheric monitoring and research initiatives well established as well as newly initiated, were providing research data as well as monitoring information of the fate of POPs in concert, allowing a new comprehensive view on the global fate and distribution pathways for legacy and emerging persistent organic pollutant (POPs): Networks like the Global Atmospheric Passive Sampling network (GAPS), the collected data from 20 years of POPs monitoring from AMAP, the newly established Atmospheric monitoring in Antarctica (incl. the Australian Casey atmospheric program and the Norwegian Trollhaugen program), as well as the Canadian INCATPA initiative providing new evidence on Atmospheric tong-rang transport across the Pacific ocean, added important information on the distribution pathways of POPs on a global scale. Thus, a significant legacy component for atmospheric monitoring of POPs in polar regions is associated with the establishment of the new POPs atmospheric monitoring locations in Antarctica where the Troll/Trollhaugen and the Casey site are adding complementary value to the already established circum-Arctic atmospheric POPs monitoring, officially established during the early 1990. Therefore, during IPY 2007–2009, the long-term circum Arctic atmospheric POPs monitoring was extended into a clearly Polar network and hopefully many other stations will join this undertaken in the near future.