In-situ component for organic contaminants, mercury and other heavy metals
Lead: Carlo Barbante, CNR

The objectives of this WP are:

• to quantify the presence, and present day lifecycle of anthropogenic contaminants ((PBDE, PAH, PCB
  and Persistent Chemicals of Emerging Global Concern), mercury and heavy metals (Cr, Pb, Cd), along
  with black carbon (BC)), through annual snow and aerosol sampling. This will be obtained from
  dedicated ice core samples for comparison.
• to continue atmospheric Hg monitoring in polar regions and perform an in-depth evaluation of the
  mercury cycle,
• to perform modelling of halogens/ozone and analyze their influence on arctic chemistry and contaminant cycles, including Hg.
• to study the exchanges and interactions of persistent contaminants between different polar
  environmental compartments.

WP 2 will improve our knowledge of the presence and the environmental cycling of persistent contaminants, mercury and other heavy metals in the Arctic environment during the present and over the last century. WP2 will then evaluate the exchanges of these contaminants between the atmosphere, cryosphere and biota in the Arctic by combining in situ measurements and modelling. The results obtained from modern samples will be compared with data from dedicated ice cores to obtain a long scale vision of these processes.

Tasks, related deliverables, and milestones of WP 2:

• Task 2.1 Defining human impacts on polar regions – cryosphere monitoring and ice core archives (lead: Carlo Barbante, Andrea Spolaor, Warren R.L. Cairns, CNR-IDPA)

D 2.1.1 Dataset of anthropogenic contaminants in snow from polar regions (M16)

D 2.1.2 Dataset for anthropogenic contaminants in ice cores (M22)

D 2.1.3 Report on definition of the Anthropocene (M28)

M 2.1.1 Completed collection of surface snow (M12)

M 2.1.2 Completed collection of ice cores (M18)

M 2.1.3 Completed comparison between Arctic and Antarctic deposition rates and exchanges to obtain natural background rates (M24)

• Task 2.2 Hg monitoring in polar regions and evaluation of the atmospheric mercury lifecycle (lead: Jeroen Sonke, CNRS-GET)

D 2.2.1 GMOS observations: Improved GMOS SOPs for atmospheric Hg(II) measurements in the Arctic &
updated GMOS database for Arctic atmospheric Hg(II) observations (M16)

D 2.2.2 GMOS modeling: Revised reaction mechanisms and rates of atmospheric Hg(II) formation in the
Arctic (M28)

D 2.2.3 GMOS observations: New Arctic atmospheric Hg isotope monitoring dataset (M22)

M 2.2.1 Completed collection of atmospheric Hg(II) speciacion and Hg(0) isotopic composition (M12)

• Task 2.3 Modelling of halogen/ozone and its influence on Arctic chemistry (lead: Jennie Thomas, LATMOS-CNRS)

D 2.3.1 Model evaluation of the role of halogens in Hg and ozone depletion events in the Arctic (M30)

M 2.3.1 Completed model coding to quantify the coupled ozone-halogen-mercury cycle (M24)

• Task 2.4 Study of interactions between environmental spheres (lead: Zhiyoung Xie, Ralf Ebinghaus, HZG, Warren Cairns, Andrea Spolaor, IDPA-CNR)

D 2.4.1 Determination of anthropogenic contaminants in air, seawater, soil and biota in the Arctic (M24)

D 2.4.2 Evaluation of the cycling and re-cycling of persistent contaminants between the atmosphere,
cryosphere and ground water with their seasonal fluxes (M30)

M 2.4.1 Completed collection of air, seawater, soil and biota in the Arctic (M20)

M 2.4.2 Complete 3-D atmospheric transport model coding for persistent contaminants and application to
analysis datasets for the Arctic and Antarctic (M28)