Polychlorinated biphenyls in glaciers: 2. Model results of deposition and incorporation processes

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Authors

  • Christine Steinlin
  • Christian Bogdal
  • Martin Scheringer
  • Pavlina A Pavlova
  • Margit Schwikowski
  • Peter Schmid
  • Konrad Hungerbühler

In previous work, Alpine glaciers have been identified as a secondary source of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). However, detailed understanding of the processes organic chemicals undergo in a glacial system was missing. Here, we present results from a chemical fate model describing deposition and incorporation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into an Alpine glacier (Fiescherhorn, Switzerland) and an Arctic glacier (Lomonosovfonna, Norway). To understand PCB fate and dynamics, we investigate the interaction of deposition, sorption to ice and particles in the atmosphere and within the glacier, revolatilization, diffusion and degradation, and discuss the effects of these processes on the fate of individual PCB congeners. The model is able to reproduce measured absolute concentrations in the two glaciers for most PCB congeners. While the model generally predicts concentration profiles peaking in the 1970s, in the measurements, this behavior can only be seen for higher-chlorinated PCB congeners on Fiescherhorn glacier. We suspect seasonal melt processes are disturbing the concentration profiles of the lower-chlorinated PCB congeners. While a lower-chlorinated PCB congener is mainly deposited by dry deposition and almost completely revolatilized after deposition, a higher-chlorinated PCB congener is predominantly transferred to the glacier surface by wet deposition and then is incorporated into the glacier ice. The incorporated amounts of PCBs are higher on the Alpine glacier than on the Arctic glacier due to the higher precipitation rate and aerosol particle concentration on the former. Future studies should include the effects of seasonal melt processes, calculate the quantities of PCBs incorporated into the entire glacier surface, and estimate the quantity of chemicals released from glaciers to determine the importance of glaciers as a secondary source of organic chemicals to remote aquatic ecosystems.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
ZeitschriftEnvironmental Science & Technology
Jahrgang48
Ausgabenummer14
Seiten (von - bis)7849-7857
Anzahl der Seiten9
ISSN0013-936X
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 15.07.2014

DOI

Zuletzt angesehen

Publikationen

  1. Book Review of Amador-Moreno, C.P., McCafferty, K., and Vaughan, E. (Eds.): Pragmatic Markers in Irish English
  2. Ecotoxicological evaluation of selected anticancer drugs
  3. Offene Aufgaben, auch ein offenes Problem der Bewertung?
  4. Sabbaticals - eine Form der Arbeitszeitflexibilisierung
  5. Offene Rituale in der Gruppenarbeit mit Kindern
  6. Das Weltsystem Des Erdöls Eine theoretisch-empirische Skizze
  7. Oscar Wilde, "Der glückliche Prinz und andere Märchen"
  8. Christopher H. Achen / Larry M. Bartels: Democracy for Realists. Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government, Princeton: Princeton University Press 2017
  9. Quo vadis Berufsvorbereitung ?
  10. Learning to say 'you' in German
  11. Grundkonzeption eines produktbezogenen Top-Runner Modells auf der EU-Ebene
  12. SeniorCitizens’ Tourism
  13. Lonzi Lesen
  14. Biodegradation tests of mercaptocarboxylic acids, their esters, related divalent sulfur compounds and mercaptans
  15. Wirtschaft neu lehren – eine Einleitung
  16. Statutenkollisionslehre
  17. The German sustainable development strategy
  18. Ideological Construction of Deviance in Street Children’s Discourse in Southwestern Nigeria
  19. Fehlgeburt und Stillgeburt
  20. A strategic model of European gas supply (GASMOD)
  21. § 117: Schadenersatzpflicht
  22. Do Brands and Faces share the same Perceptual Space?
  23. Zur Validität eines Mathematiktests für die Auswahl von Bewerber*innen auf ein Lehramtsstudium
  24. Informationstechnologien zur Optimierung von Geschäftsprozessen, heute und morgen
  25. Transnationale Delikte vor nationalen Gerichten oder:
  26. The heterogeneous economic consequences of work council relations
  27. Der Beitrag zivilgesellschaftlicher Partizipation zur Effektivitatssteigerung von Governance
  28. Crowdfunding
  29. The diversity of gendered adaptation strategies to climate change of Indian farmers: A feminist intersectional approach