Synthetic organic chemicals in the deep Sargasso Sea

Abstract

The flux of chlorinated synthetic organic chemicals to the open ocean is important both to organic geochemistry and for environmental health. We have studied over a 2-yr period the deposition of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chlordanes and dieldrin by means of a sediment trap in the Sargasso Sea. We now report that the fluxes of these materials to the deep North Atlantic Ocean were 1.6 µg m−2 yr−1, 0.02 µg m−2 yr−1 and 0.04 µg m−2 yr−1, respectively between 1978 and 1980.