Dissolved Organophosphate Esters and Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Remote Marine Environments: Arctic Surface Water Distributions and Net Transport through Fram Strait.

Organophosphate esters (OPEs) have been found in remote environments at unexpectedly high concentrations, but very few measurements of OPE concentrations in seawater are available, and none are available in subsurface seawater. In this study, passive polyethylene samplers (PEs) deployed on deep-water moorings in the Fram Strait and in surface waters of Canadian Arctic lakes and coastal sites were analyzed for a suite of common OPEs. Total OPEs ( ∑11OPE) at deep-water sites were dominated by chlorinated OPEs, and ranged from 6.3 to 440 pg/L. Concentrations were similar in eastern and western Fram Strait. Chlorinated OPEs were also dominant in Canadian Arctic surface waters (mean concentration ranged from < DL to 4400 pg/L), while nonhalogenated alkyl/aryl-substituted OPEs remained low (1.3-55 pg/L), possibly due to the greater long-range transport potential of chlorinated OPEs. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were found at much lower concentrations than OPEs (

Depth Profiles of Persistent Organic Pollutants in the North and Tropical Atlantic Ocean.

Little is known of the distribution of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the deep ocean. Polyethylene passive samplers were used to detect the vertical distribution of truly dissolved POPs at two sites in the Atlantic Ocean. Samplers were deployed at five depths covering 26-2535 m in the northern Atlantic and Tropical Atlantic, in approximately one year deployments. Samplers of different thickness were used to determine the state of equilibrium POPs reached in the passive samplers. Concentrations of POPs detected in the North Atlantic near the surface (e.g., sum of 14 polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs: 0.84 pg L(-1)) were similar to previous measurements. At both sites, PCB concentrations showed subsurface maxima (tropical Atlantic Ocean -800 m, North Atlantic -500 m). Currents seemed more important in moving POPs to deeper water masses than the biological pump. The ratio of PCB concentrations in near surface waters (excluding PCB-28) between the two sites was inversely correlated with congeners' subcooled liquid vapor pressure, in support of the latitudinal fractionation. The results presented here implied a significant amount of HCB is stored in the Atlantic Ocean (4.8-26% of the global HCB environmental burdens), contrasting traditional beliefs that POPs do not reach the deep ocean.