For legacy and emerging persistent organic pollutants (POPs), surprisingly little is still known in quantitative terms about their global sources and emissions. Atmospheric transport has been ...identified as the key global dispersal mechanism for most legacy POPs. In contrast, transport by ocean currents may prove to be the main transport route for many polar, emerging POPs. This is linked to the POPs’ intrinsic physico-chemical properties, as exemplified by the different fate of hexachlorocyclohexanes in the Arctic. Similarly, our current understanding of POPs’ global transport and fate remains sketchy. The importance of organic carbon and global temperature differences have been accepted as key drivers of POPs’ global distribution. However, future research will need to understand the various biogeochemical and geophysical cycles under anthropogenic pressures to be able to understand and predict the global fate of POPs accurately.
Future studies into the global fate of POPs will need to pay more attention to the various biogeochemical and anthropogenic cycles to better understand emissions, transport and sinks.
Thousands of synthetic chemicals and hydrocarbons are released to the marine environment composing the anthropogenic dissolved organic carbon (ADOC). Most ADOC is disproportionally hydrophobic, and ...consequently, its concentrations in the cell membranes are between a thousand and hundred million fold higher than those in the dissolved phase. Marine microorganisms respond to ADOC by multiple strategies ranging from ADOC degradation to detoxifying metabolisms. We argue that the increasing concentrations of ADOC in the oceans deriving from rivers, atmospheric deposition, and plastic leachates can have an effect on the health of the oceans and influence the major biogeochemical cycles, thus influencing the Earth system during the Anthropocene.
Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous in the environment, including remote polar regions. To evaluate the role of snow deposition as an input of PFAS to Maritime Antarctica, fresh snow ...deposition, surface snow, streams from melted snow, coastal seawater, and plankton samples were collected over a three-month period (December 2014–February 2015) at Livingston Island. Local sources of PFASs were significant for perfluoroalkyl sulfonates (PFSAs) and C7–14 perfluoroalkyl carboxylates (PFCAs) in snow but limited to the transited areas of the research station. The concentrations of 14 ionizable PFAS (∑PFAS) in freshly deposited snow (760–3600 pg L–1) were 1 order of magnitude higher than those in background surface snow (82–430 pg L–1). ∑PFAS ranged from 94 to 420 pg L–1 in seawater and from 3.1 to 16 ng gdw –1 in plankton. Ratios of individual PFAS concentrations in freshly deposited snow relative to surface snow (C SD/C Snow), snowmelt (C SD/C SM), and seawater (C SD/C SW) were close to 1 (from 0.44 to 1.4) for all perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) isomers, suggesting that snowfall does not contribute significantly to PFOS in seawater. Conversely, these ratios for PFCAs ranged from 1 to 33 and were positively correlated with the number of carbons in the PFCA alkylated chain. These trends suggest that snow deposition, scavenging sea-salt aerosol bound PFAS, plays a role as a significant input of PFCAs to the Maritime Antarctica.
The anthropogenic perturbation of the phosphorus (P) marine biogeochemical cycle due to synthetic organophosphorus compounds remains unexplored. The objective of this work was to investigate the ...microbial degradation of organophosphate triesters (OPEs), widely used as plasticizers and flame retardants, in seawater and their effects on the physiology and composition of microbial communities. Experiments were performed in July 2014 using surface seawater from the Blanes Bay Microbial Observatory (NW Mediterranean) to which OPEs were added at environmentally relevant concentrations. The concentrations of OPEs in the dissolved-phase generally decreased after 24 hours of incubation at in situ conditions. The fitted first order reaction constants were significantly different than zero for the trihaloalkyl phosphate, tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate and trialyl phosphate tricresyl phosphate. In general, OPEs triggered an increase of the percentage of actively respiring bacteria, total bacterial activity, and the number of low-nucleic acid bacteria, and a decrease in the percentage of membrane-compromised bacteria. Members of some bacterial groups, in particular Flavobacteria, increased their specific activity, indicating that seawater contains bacteria with the potential to degrade OPEs. In aged seawater that was presumably depleted of labile dissolved organic carbon and inorganic P, alkaline phosphatase activities significantly decreased when OPEs were added, indicating a relief on P stress, consistent with the role of OPEs as potential P sources.
Semivolatile persistent organic pollutants have the potential to reach remote environments, such as the Arctic Ocean, through atmospheric transport and deposition. Here we show that this transport of ...polychlorinated biphenyls to the Arctic Ocean is strongly retarded by the oceanic biological pump. A simultaneous sampling of atmospheric, seawater and plankton samples was performed in July 2007 in the Greenland Current and Atlantic sector of the Arctic Ocean. The atmospheric concentrations declined during atmospheric transport over the Greenland Current with estimated half-lives of 1-4 days. These short half-lives can be explained by the high air-to-water net diffusive flux, which is similar in magnitude to the estimated settling fluxes in the water column. Therefore, the decrease of atmospheric concentrations is due to sequestration of atmospheric polychlorinated biphenyls by enhanced air-water diffusive fluxes driven by phytoplankton uptake and organic carbon settling fluxes (biological pump).
The atmosphere plays a fundamental role in the transport of microbes across the planet but it is often neglected as a microbial habitat. Although the ocean represents two thirds of the Earth's ...surface, there is little information on the atmospheric microbial load over the open ocean. Here we provide a global estimate of microbial loads and air-sea exchanges over the tropical and subtropical oceans based on the data collected along the Malaspina 2010 Circumnavigation Expedition. Total loads of airborne prokaryotes and eukaryotes were estimated at 2.2 × 10
and 2.1 × 10
cells, respectively. Overall 33-68% of these microorganisms could be traced to a marine origin, being transported thousands of kilometres before re-entering the ocean. Moreover, our results show a substantial load of terrestrial microbes transported over the oceans, with abundances declining exponentially with distance from land and indicate that islands may act as stepping stones facilitating the transoceanic transport of terrestrial microbes.The extent to which the ocean acts as a sink and source of airborne particles to the atmosphere is unresolved. Here, the authors report high microbial loads over the tropical Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans and propose islands as stepping stones for the transoceanic transport of terrestrial microbes..
Atmospheric deposition of total organic carbon (OC) and black carbon (BC) is lacking or not fully accounted in most current models of the global carbon cycling, specially those fluxes related to gas ...phase OC. Here, we develop and apply a methodology to estimate wet and dry deposition of total OC to the oceans, based on monthly satellite measurements of aerosol size distributions, wind speed, etc., and estimates of deposition for aerosols and organic compounds. The parameterization of dry deposition velocities account for the dependence of turbulent transport with aerosol diameter, wind speed and the formation of marine aerosol, etc. Gravitational settling is estimated as a function of wet particle diameter, thus including hygroscopic growth due to ambient humidity. Global dry deposition of aerosol OC is estimated to be 11
Tg C y
−1 and wet deposition of particle and gaseous OC are estimated as 47 and 187
Tg C y
−1, respectively. Due to their pulsing variability, wet deposition fluxes can be important locally and as a temporal source of OC to surface waters. Dry and wet deposition of black carbon to the global ocean are estimated to be 2 and 10
Tg C yr
−1, respectively, with higher fluxes in the northern hemisphere and for inter-tropical regions. Finally, considerations on the potential magnitude of the hitherto neglected gross air–sea diffusive exchange fluxes of OC are discussed. Even though the magnitude and direction of these cannot be constrained here, evidence of its important role is given. This study, thus, shows that there is an important spatial and temporal variability in atmosphere–ocean exchanges of OC and BC at different scales, and calls for the need for further research on the important role that these exchanges play in the global carbon cycle.
After decades of primary emissions, reservoirs of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have accumulated in soils and snow/ice in polar regions. These reservoirs can be remobilized due to decreasing ...primary emissions or due to climate change-driven warmer conditions. Results from a sampling campaign carried out at Livingston Island (Antarctica) focusing on field measurements of air–soil exchange of POPs show that there is a close coupling of the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the atmosphere and snow/ice and soils with a status close to air–surface equilibrium to a net volatilization from Antarctic reservoirs. This remobilization of PCBs is driven by changes in temperature and soil organic matter (SOM) content, and it provides strong evidence that the current and future remobilization and sinks of POPs are a strong function of the close coupling of climate change and carbon cycling in the Antarctic region and this is not only due to warming. Whereas an increase of 1 °C in ambient temperature due to climate change would increase current Antarctic atmospheric inventories of PCBs by 21–45%, a concurrent increase of 0.5% SOM would counteract the influence of warming by reducing the POP fugacity in soil. A 1 °C increase in Antarctic temperatures will induce an increase of the soil–vegetation organic carbon and associated POPs pools by 25%, becoming a net sink of POPs, and trapping up to 70 times more POPs than the amount remobilized to the atmosphere. Therefore, changes in soil biogeochemistry driven by perturbations of climate may increase to a larger degree the soil fugacity capacity than the decrease in air and soil fugacity capacity due to higher temperatures. Future research should focus on quantifying these remobilization fluxes and sinks for the Antarctic region.
The goal of this study was to experimentally assess the coupling between primary producer biomass dynamics and the distribution and fate of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in a lake pelagic ...ecosystem. This was done by following the short-term evolution of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations in water and biota (phytoplankton and zooplankton) and the variability of bioconcentration (BCF), biomagnification (BMF), and bioaccumulation (BAF) factors during the development of a typical spring ecological progression in which the phytoplankton bloom is followed by a peak in the zooplankton abundance. The bulk of compounds with log K OW > 6.5 in the lake epilimnion was mainly associated with primary producer biomass. The phytoplankton biological pump was a major driver of POP export from the epilimnion, causing the decline of dissolved-phase concentrations. The BCF of phytoplankton for the more hydrophobic PCBs showed minima during the period of biomass climax. The concentration in the zooplankton of all selected PCBs sharply declined from March to May, with BAFs having minima in the post algal bloom phase. Biomagnification occurred during the pre algal bloom and algal bloom phases but appeared to be absent during the post algal bloom. This study highlights the occurrence of a prompt and complex response in the fate and distribution of POPs to dynamic biogeochemical control. Within the frame of the ecological succession, phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass dynamics produced bioaccumulation metrics varying over 1–2 orders of magnitude in the time frame of a few weeks and resulted in reduced trophic web exposure.
Despite the distance of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean to primary source regions of organochlorine pesticides, such as hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), these organic ...pollutants are found in this remote region due to long range atmospheric transport and deposition. This study reports the gas- and aerosol-phase concentrations of α-HCH, γ-HCH, and HCB in the atmosphere from the Weddell, South Scotia and Bellingshausen Seas. The atmospheric samples were obtained in two sampling cruises in 2008 and 2009, and in a third sampling campaign at Livingston Island (2009) in order to quantify the potential secondary sources of HCHs and HCB due to volatilization from Antarctic soils and snow. The gas phase concentrations of HCHs and HCB are low, and in the order of very few pg m−3 α-HCH and γ-HCH concentrations were higher when the air mass back trajectory was coming from the Antarctic continent, consistent with net volatilization fluxes of γ-HCH measured at Livingston Island being a significant secondary source to the regional atmosphere. In addition, the Southern ocean is an important net sink of HCHs, and to minor extent of HCB, due to high diffusive air-to-water fluxes. These net absorption fluxes for HCHs are presumably due to the role of bacterial degradation, depleting the water column concentrations of HCHs in surface waters and driving an air–water disequilibrium. This is the first field study that has investigated the coupling between the atmospheric occurrence of HCHs and HCB, the simultaneous air–water exchange, soil/snow-air exchange, and long range transport of organic pollutants in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.
•Concentrations of HCHs and HCB are low (few pg m−3) in the Southern Ocean surrounding the Antarctic Peninsula.•Antarctic snow is a secondary source of HCHs and HCB to the regional atmosphere.•The biological and degradative pumps have an influence on the atmospheric deposition of HCH and HCBs to the Southern Ocean.
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