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Carlsson P, Breivik K, Brorström-Lundén E, Cousins I, Christensen J, Grimalt JO, Halsall C, Kallenborn R, Abass K, Lammel G, Munthe J, MacLeod M, Odland JØ, Pawlak J, Rautio A, Reiersen LO, Schlabach M, Stemmler I, Wilson S, Wöhrnschimmel H. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as sentinels for the elucidation of Arctic environmental change processes: a comprehensive review combined with ArcRisk project results. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2018; 25:22499-22528. [PMID: 29956262 PMCID: PMC6096556 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-018-2625-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2018] [Accepted: 06/20/2018] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can be used as chemical sentinels for the assessment of anthropogenic influences on Arctic environmental change. We present an overview of studies on PCBs in the Arctic and combine these with the findings from ArcRisk-a major European Union-funded project aimed at examining the effects of climate change on the transport of contaminants to and their behaviour of in the Arctic-to provide a case study on the behaviour and impact of PCBs over time in the Arctic. PCBs in the Arctic have shown declining trends in the environment over the last few decades. Atmospheric long-range transport from secondary and primary sources is the major input of PCBs to the Arctic region. Modelling of the atmospheric PCB composition and behaviour showed some increases in environmental concentrations in a warmer Arctic, but the general decline in PCB levels is still the most prominent feature. 'Within-Arctic' processing of PCBs will be affected by climate change-related processes such as changing wet deposition. These in turn will influence biological exposure and uptake of PCBs. The pan-Arctic rivers draining large Arctic/sub-Arctic catchments provide a significant source of PCBs to the Arctic Ocean, although changes in hydrology/sediment transport combined with a changing marine environment remain areas of uncertainty with regard to PCB fate. Indirect effects of climate change on human exposure, such as a changing diet will influence and possibly reduce PCB exposure for indigenous peoples. Body burdens of PCBs have declined since the 1980s and are predicted to decline further.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Knut Breivik
- NILU-Norwegian Institute for Air Research, 2027, Kjeller, Norway
| | | | - Ian Cousins
- Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry (ACES), Stockholm University, 11418, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Jesper Christensen
- Department of Bioscience, Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Joan O Grimalt
- Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDÆA), Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), 0834, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Crispin Halsall
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, UK
| | - Roland Kallenborn
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Sciences (KBM), Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Christian Magnus Falsen Veg 1, 1432, Ås, Norway
- Department of Arctic Technology (AT), University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), 9171, Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway
| | - Khaled Abass
- Department of Pesticides, Menoufia University, P.O. Box 32511, Shebeen El-Kom, Egypt
- Arctic Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, 90014, Oulu, Finland
| | - Gerhard Lammel
- Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128, Mainz, Germany
- Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment, Masaryk University, 62500, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - John Munthe
- IVL Swedish Environment Research Institute, 411 33, Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Matthew MacLeod
- Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry (ACES), Stockholm University, 11418, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Jon Øyvind Odland
- Department of Community Medicine, UiT-The Arctic University of Norway, 9037, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Janet Pawlak
- Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), AMAP Secretariat, Gaustadalléen 21, 0349, Oslo, Norway
| | - Arja Rautio
- Arctic Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, 90014, Oulu, Finland
| | - Lars-Otto Reiersen
- Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), AMAP Secretariat, Gaustadalléen 21, 0349, Oslo, Norway
| | - Martin Schlabach
- NILU-Norwegian Institute for Air Research, 2027, Kjeller, Norway
| | - Irene Stemmler
- Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128, Mainz, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, 20146, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Simon Wilson
- Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), AMAP Secretariat, Gaustadalléen 21, 0349, Oslo, Norway
| | - Henry Wöhrnschimmel
- Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zürich, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland
- Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, Worblentalstrasse 68, 3063, Ittigen, Switzerland
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Wöhrnschimmel H, Scheringer M, Bogdal C, Hung H, Salamova A, Venier M, Katsoyiannis A, Hites RA, Hungerbuhler K, Fiedler H. Ten years after entry into force of the Stockholm Convention: What do air monitoring data tell about its effectiveness? Environ Pollut 2016; 217:149-58. [PMID: 27015905 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2016.01.090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2015] [Revised: 01/28/2016] [Accepted: 01/29/2016] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
More than a decade ago, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), one of the multilateral environmental agreements administered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), entered into force. The objective of this Convention is to protect human health and the environment by controlling the releases of POPs. According to its Article 16, the effectiveness of the Stockholm Convention shall be evaluated using comparable monitoring data on the presence of POPs as well as their regional and global environmental transport. Here, we present a time series analysis on atmospheric POP concentrations from 15 monitoring stations in North America and Europe that provide long-term data and have started operations between 1990 and 2003. We systematically searched for temporal trends and significant structural changes in temporal trends that might result from the provisions of the Stockholm Convention. We find that such structural changes do occur, but they are related mostly to effects of national regulations enforced prior to the implementation of the Stockholm Convention, rather than to the enforcement of the provisions laid out in the Convention. One example is that concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls, many of which started to decrease rapidly during the 1990s. Also effects of chemical transport and fate, for instance the re-volatilization of POPs from secondary sources, are thought to be a cause of some of the observed structural changes. We conclude that a decade of air monitoring data has not been sufficient for detecting general and statistically significant effects of the Stockholm Convention. Based on these lessons, we present recommendations for the future operation of existing monitoring programs and advocate for a stricter enforcement of the provisions of the Stockholm Convention, in the current absence of proof for its effectiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henry Wöhrnschimmel
- Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 1, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
| | - Martin Scheringer
- Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 1, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Masaryk University, Kamenice 753/5, Pavillion A29, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Christian Bogdal
- Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 1, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; Institute for Sustainability Sciences ISS, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Hayley Hung
- Air Quality Processes Research Section, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 4905 Dufferin Street, Toronto, Ontario M3H 5T4, Canada
| | - Amina Salamova
- School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, 702 Walnut Grove Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Marta Venier
- School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, 702 Walnut Grove Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Athanasios Katsoyiannis
- Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) at FRAM - High North Research Centre on Climate and the Environment, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
| | - Ronald A Hites
- School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, 702 Walnut Grove Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Konrad Hungerbuhler
- Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 1, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Heidelore Fiedler
- DTIE/Chemicals Branch, United Nations Environment Programme, 11-13, Chemin des Anémones, 1219 Châtelaine, Switzerland; School of Science and Technology, MTM Research Centre, Örebro University, 70182 Örebro, Sweden
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Wöhrnschimmel H, MacLeod M, Hungerbuhler K. Emissions, fate and transport of persistent organic pollutants to the Arctic in a changing global climate. Environ Sci Technol 2013; 47:2323-2330. [PMID: 23362961 DOI: 10.1021/es304646n] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Climate change is expected to alter patterns of human economic activity and the associated emissions of chemicals, and also to affect the transport and fate of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Here, we use a global-scale multimedia chemical fate model to analyze and quantify the impact of climate change on emissions and fate of POPs, and their transport to the Arctic. First, climate change effects under the SRES-A2 scenario are illustrated using case-studies for two well-characterized POPs, PCB153, and α-HCH. Then, we model the combined impact of altered emission patterns and climatic conditions on environmental concentrations of potential future-use substances with a broad range of chemical properties. Starting from base-case generic emission scenarios, we postulate changes in emission patterns that may occur in response to climate change: enhanced usage of industrial chemicals in an ice-free Arctic, and intensified application of agrochemicals due to higher crop production and poleward expansion of potential arable land. We find both increases and decreases in concentrations of POP-like chemicals in the Arctic in the climate change scenario compared to the base-case climate. During the phase of ongoing primary emissions, modeled increases in Arctic contamination are up to a factor of 2 in air and water, and are driven mostly by changes in emission patterns. After phase-out, increases are up to a factor of 2 in air and 4 in water, and are mostly attributable to changes in transport and fate of chemicals under the climate change scenario.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henry Wöhrnschimmel
- Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich , Wolfgang-Pauli Strasse 10, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
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Wöhrnschimmel H, Tay P, von Waldow H, Hung H, Li YF, Macleod M, Hungerbuhler K. Comparative assessment of the global fate of α- and β-hexachlorocyclohexane before and after phase-out. Environ Sci Technol 2012; 46:2047-2054. [PMID: 22320168 DOI: 10.1021/es203109q] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Technical hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) was one of the most widely used pesticides during the 20th century. Although production and use were phased-out during the 1990s, two of its major components, α- and β-HCH, are still ubiquitous in the environment. Here, we have collected and analyzed data on concentrations of α- and β-HCH in the atmosphere and oceans, including spatial and temporal trends and seasonalities. We apply a global fate and transport model to both isomers over the period 1950 to 2050 to rationalize current levels and trends at remote locations with estimated emissions and to forecast into the near future. Our model results indicate that secondary emissions from soils and oceans are currently controlling the observed rates of decline in the atmosphere. β-HCH is declining more slowly than α-HCH due to its higher persistence, and we hypothesize that it will eventually become the predominant isomer of HCH in the environment. The model reproduces over 70% of measured concentrations of α-HCH in air and ocean water within factors of 3 and 5, respectively, and over 70% of measured concentrations of β-HCH within factors of 8 and 20, respectively. The model results are only weakly sensitive to climate change-induced trends in Arctic sea-ice cover and temperature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henry Wöhrnschimmel
- Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Wolfgang-Pauli Strasse 10, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
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MacLeod M, von Waldow H, Tay P, Armitage JM, Wöhrnschimmel H, Riley WJ, McKone TE, Hungerbuhler K. BETR global--a geographically-explicit global-scale multimedia contaminant fate model. Environ Pollut 2011; 159:1442-5. [PMID: 21353357 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2011.01.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2010] [Revised: 01/19/2011] [Accepted: 01/25/2011] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
We present two new software implementations of the BETR Global multimedia contaminant fate model. The model uses steady-state or non-steady-state mass-balance calculations to describe the fate and transport of persistent organic pollutants using a desktop computer. The global environment is described using a database of long-term average monthly conditions on a 15°×15° grid. We demonstrate BETR Global by modeling the global sources, transport, and removal of decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5).
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew MacLeod
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), Zurich, Switzerland.
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