Atmospheric organochlorine pollutants and air-sea exchange of hexachlorocyclohexane in the Bering and Chukchi Seas
Journal of Geophysical Research
By: D.A. Hinckley, T.F. Bidleman, and C.P. Rice
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Abstract
Organochlorine pesticides have been found in Arctic fish, marine mammals, birds, and plankton for some time. The lack of local sources and remoteness of the region imply long-range transport and deposition of contaminants into the Arctic from sources to the south. While on the third Soviet-American Joint Ecological Expedition to the Bering and Chukchi Seas (August 1988), high-volume air samples were taken and analyzed for organochlorine pesticides. Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), hexachlorobenzene, polychlorinated camphenes, and chlordane (listed in order of abundance, highest to lowest) were quantified. The air-sea gas exchange of HCH was estimated at 18 stations during the cruise. Average alpha-HCH concentrations in concurrent atmosphere and surface water samples were 250 pg m-3 and 2.4 ng L-1, respectively, and average gamma-HCH concentrations were 68 pg m-3 in the atmosphere and 0.6 ng L-1 in surface water. Calculations based on experimentally derived Henry's law constants showed that the surface water was undersaturated with respect to the atmosphere at most stations (alpha-HCH, average 79% saturation; gamma-HCH, average 28% saturation). The flux for alpha-HCH ranged from -47 ng m-2 day-1 (sea to air) to 122 ng m-2 d-1 (air to sea) and averaged 25 ng m-2 d-1 air to sea. All fluxes of gamma-HCH were from air to sea, ranged from 17 to 54 ng m-2 d-1, and averaged 31 ng m-2 d-1.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Atmospheric organochlorine pollutants and air-sea exchange of hexachlorocyclohexane in the Bering and Chukchi Seas |
| Series title | Journal of Geophysical Research |
| DOI | 10.1029/90JC02642 |
| Volume | 96 |
| Issue | C4 |
| Year Published | 1991 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | American Geophysical Union |
| Contributing office(s) | Patuxent Wildlife Research Center |
| Description | 13 p. |
| First page | 7201 |
| Last page | 7213 |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |