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

Authors

Carrie A. McDonough, University of Rhode IslandFollow
Amila O. De Silva
Caoxin Sun
Ana Cabrerizo
David Adelman
Thomas Soltwedel
Eduard Bauerfeind
Derek C. G. Muir
Rainer Lohmann, University of Rhode IslandFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

2018

Department

Oceanography

Abstract

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 (

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Carrie A. McDonough; Amila O. De Silva; Caoxin Sun; Ana Cabrerizo; David Adelman; Thomas Soltwedel; Eduard Bauerfeind; Derek C. G. Muir; Rainer Lohmann. Dissolved Organophosphate Esters and Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Remote Marine Environments: Arctic Surface Water Distributions and Net Transport Through Fram Strait. Environ Sci Technol, 2018, 52, 6208−6216.

Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b01127