Seasonal accumulation of persistent organic pollutants on a high altitude glacier in the Eastern Alps

T Kirchgeorg; A Dreyer; P Gabrielli; J Gabrieli; L G Thompson; C Barbante; R Ebinghaus

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2016.08.004

Seasonal accumulation of persistent organic pollutants on a high altitude glacier in the Eastern Alps

Environ Pollut. 2016 Nov:218:804-812. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2016.08.004. Epub 2016 Aug 21.

Authors

T Kirchgeorg¹, A Dreyer², P Gabrielli³, J Gabrieli⁴, L G Thompson³, C Barbante⁵, R Ebinghaus⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department for Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Coastal Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Geesthacht, Germany; Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, University Ca' Foscari of Venice, Venice, Italy; Institute of Sustainable and Environmental Chemistry, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany. Electronic address: kirchgeorg@unive.it.
² Department for Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Coastal Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Geesthacht, Germany; Air Monitoring, Eurofins GfA GmbH, Hamburg, Germany.
³ Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center and School of Earth Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
⁴ Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes, National Council of Research (IDPA-CNR), Venice, Italy.
⁵ Institute of Sustainable and Environmental Chemistry, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany; Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes, National Council of Research (IDPA-CNR), Venice, Italy.
⁶ Department for Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Coastal Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Geesthacht, Germany.

PMID: 27554981
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2016.08.004

Abstract

The seasonal accumulations of perfluorinated substances (PFAS), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were measured in a 10 m shallow firn core from a high altitude glacier at Mt. Ortles (Italy, 3830 m above sea level) in South Tyrol in the Italian Eastern Alps. The most abundant persistent organic pollutants of each group were perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) (for PFASs); BDE 47, BDE 99, BDE 209 (for PBDEs) and phenanthrene (PHE), fluoranthene (FLA) and pyrene (PYR) (for PAHs). All compounds show different extents of seasonality, with higher accumulation during summer time compared to winter. This seasonal difference mainly reflects meteorological conditions with a low and stable atmospheric boundary layer in winter and strong convective activity in summer, transformation processes during the transport of chemicals and/or post-depositional alterations. Change in the composition of the water-soluble PFCAs demonstrates the influence of meltwater percolation through the firn layers.

Keywords: European Alps; Glacier; PAH; PBDE; PFAS.

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants / analysis*
Altitude*
Caprylates / analysis
Environmental Monitoring
Fatty Acids
Fluorocarbons / analysis*
Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / analysis*
Ice Cover / chemistry*
Italy
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / analysis*
Seasons*

Substances

2,2',4,4',5-brominated diphenyl ether
Air Pollutants
Caprylates
Fatty Acids
Fluorocarbons
Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether
perfluorobutyric acid
perfluoro-n-nonanoic acid
perfluorooctanoic acid
decabromobiphenyl ether