Spatial and Temporal Variations of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Organochlorine Pesticides in Snow in Eastern Siberia

Abstract

This study evaluated the spatial and long-term variations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in the snow at 55 industrial, urban, rural, and remote stations in Eastern Siberia, Russia, in 2021 in comparison to data obtained from the 1990s to the 2010s. In 2021, the mean levels of the organochlorine compounds in snow amounted to 76 ng/L ∑PCB36, 5.8 ng/L hexachlorobenzene (HCB), 0.02 ng/L α-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), and 1.01 ng/L dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites. The spatial distribution of organochlorines was shown to result from the presence of industrial and urban sources, as well as atmospheric transport. The PCB and HCB temporal distributions from the 1990s to the 2020s were represented as V-shaped curves. The PCB homological patterns show that, in some of the samples, the abundance of lower chlorinated homologues in 2021 is greater than in previous years. Over the last three decades, the HCH and DDT levels have significantly decreased. The relationship between PCBs and suspended particulate matter became stronger with the increase in PCB chlorination levels from lighter to heavier chlorinated congeners. Deposition with wet precipitation in the wintertime provided 3–8% of the annual deposition flux. Massive POP deposition with wet precipitation occurred in May (about 12–18%) and from July to September (60–65%).