United Nations
Environment Programme
Chemicals
Antarctica
REGIONAL REPORT
Regionally
Based
Assessment
of
Persistent
Available from:
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Substances
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December 2002
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Printed at United Nations, Geneva
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GE.03-00165January 2003300
UNEP/CHEMICALS/2003/12
G l o b a l E n v i r o n m e n t F a c i l i t y
UNITED NATIONS
ENVIRONMENT
PROGRAMME
CHEMICALS
Regional y Based Assessment
of Persistent Toxic Substances
ANTARCTICA
REGIONAL REPORT
DECEMBER 2002
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY
This report was financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through a global project
with co-financing from the Governments of Australia, France, Sweden, Switzerland and the
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ii
PREFACE ..........................................................................................................V
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...................................................................................VI
1
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................... 1
1.1
OVERVIEW OF THE RBA PTS PROJECT ..............................................................................1
1.1.1 Objectives..................................................................................................................................................1
1.1.2 Results .......................................................................................................................................................1
1.2 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................................2
1.2.1 Regional divisions .....................................................................................................................................2
1.2.2 Management structure ...............................................................................................................................2
1.2.3 Data processing .........................................................................................................................................2
1.2.4 Project funding ..........................................................................................................................................3
1.3
SCOPE OF THE ANTARCTIC REGIONAL ASSESSMENT ..................................................3
1.3.1 Existing assessments .................................................................................................................................3
1.3.2 Inter-regional links and collaboration........................................................................................................4
1.3.3 Omissions and weaknesses........................................................................................................................4
1.4 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................................4
1.5
GENERAL DEFINITIONS OF CHEMICALS...........................................................................5
1.5.1 Persistent Toxic Substances Pesticides....................................................................................................5
1.5.2 Persistent Toxic Substances - Industrial compounds.................................................................................8
1.5.3 Persistent Toxic Substances - Unintended by-products............................................................................9
1.5.4 Organometals...........................................................................................................................................10
1.6
DEFINITION OF THE ANTARCTIC REGION......................................................................10
1.7 PHYSICAL
SETTING ..............................................................................................................12
1.7.1 The terrestrial environment .....................................................................................................................13
1.7.2 The marine environment..........................................................................................................................13
1.7.3 Islands......................................................................................................................................................15
1.8
AN OUTLINE OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION.......................................................15
2
SOURCE CHARACTERISATION........................................................... 17
2.1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................17
2.1.1 Persistent Toxic Substances Pesticides.................................................................................................18
2.1.2 Persistent Toxic Substances - Industrial Compounds..............................................................................18
2.1.3 Persistent Toxic Substances - Unintended by-products...........................................................................19
2.1.4 Organometals...........................................................................................................................................21
2.2
SUMMARY - SOURCE CHARACTERISATION ..................................................................21
3
ENVIRONMENTAL LEVELS, TOXICOLOGICAL AND
ECOTOXICOLOGICAL CHARACTERISATION .................................... 22
3.1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................22
3.2
LEVELS AND TRENDS ABIOTIC ENVIRONMENT........................................................22
3.2.1 Persistent Toxic Substances Pesticides.................................................................................................22
3.2.2 Persistent Toxic Substances - Industrial Compounds..............................................................................27
3.2.3 Persistent Toxic Substances - Unintended by-products...........................................................................29
3.2.4 Organometals...........................................................................................................................................31
3.2.5 Overall conclusions environmental levels and trends ..........................................................................31
3.3
LEVELS AND TRENDS BIOTA ..........................................................................................32
3.3.1 Persistent Toxic Substances Pesticides.................................................................................................33
3.3.2 Persistent Toxic Substances - Industrial Compounds..............................................................................43
3.3.3 Persistent Toxic Substances - Unintended by-products...........................................................................46
3.3.4 Organometals...........................................................................................................................................48
iii
3.4 TOXICOLOGY .........................................................................................................................48
3.4.1 Anecdotal evidence for environmental impact ecological and physiological data................................48
3.4.2 Physiological data for organism response ...............................................................................................48
3.4.3 Data on metabolism and breakdown of pollutants ..................................................................................49
3.4.4 Experimental exposure tests ....................................................................................................................49
3.5
SUMMARY - ENVIRONMENTAL LEVELS, TOXOLOGICAL AND
ECOTOXOLOGICAL CHARACTERISATION......................................................................49
4
MAJOR PATHWAYS OF CONTAMINANT TRANSPORT..................... 51
4.1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................51
4.2 ATMOSPHERIC
TRANSPORT...............................................................................................51
4.3 OCEANIC
TRANSPORT .........................................................................................................52
4.4
THE TIME-SCALE OF TRANSPORT ....................................................................................53
4.5
LOCAL MODULATION OF EXTRA-REGIONAL INPUTS.................................................54
4.6
SUMMARY REGIONAL RESPONSE TO EXTRA-REGIONAL SOURCES....................54
5
PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF THE REGIONAL CAPACITY AND
NEEDS.................................................................................................... 55
5.1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................55
5.2
CURRENT STATUS DATA, REGULATION AND CAPACITY .......................................56
5.2.1 The levels of PTSs in the Antarctic region..............................................................................................56
5.2.2 Local sources production......................................................................................................................56
5.2.3 Local sources contamination ................................................................................................................56
5.2.4 Current environmental controls and regulation .......................................................................................57
5.2.5 Extra-regional sources of PTSs ...............................................................................................................59
5.2.6 Motivation and strategy for monitoring PTS in the environment and in biota.......................................59
5.2.7 Time series of environmental PTS concentration....................................................................................60
5.2.8 Identifying the geographic location of extra-regional sources ................................................................60
5.2.9 Factors complicating the interpretation of data on PTS levels in biota ...................................................60
5.3
THE VALUE OF ANTARCTIC PTS MEASUREMENTS IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT........60
5.3.1 The value of monitoring PTS globally from the Antarctic......................................................................60
5.3.2 Requirements for a systematic monitoring programme...........................................................................61
5.3.3 Can PTSs be prioritised for a future monitoring study? ..........................................................................63
5.4
SUMMARY - REQUIREMENTS AND SCOPE FOR FURTHER ACTION .........................64
5.5 RECOMMENDATIONS...........................................................................................................65
5.5.1 Existing data ............................................................................................................................................65
5.5.2 Local dynamics........................................................................................................................................65
5.5.3 Long-range transport ...............................................................................................................................65
5.5.4 Global monitoring ...................................................................................................................................66
5.5.5 Health issues............................................................................................................................................66
6
REFERENCES........................................................................................ 67
7
APPENDIX 1. GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS MENTIONED................... 72
8
APPENDIX 2. LOCATION OF PERMANENT RESEARCH STATIONS 73
9
APPENDIX 3. SCIENTIFIC NAMES OF ANIMALS................................ 76
iv
PREFACE
This report forms a part of a global assessment of Persistent Toxic Substances, and covers one of twelve
regions designated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The Antarctic Regional
Assessment was delegated to the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), and SCAR in turn
contracted the preparation of the assessment to the Science Training and Education Partnership.
Several people and organizations assisted with the preparation of the report. Foremost amongst these was Dr
Peter Clarkson, Executive Secretary of SCAR. Useful advice was given by Drs David Walton, John Shears,
Mike Meredith, Eric Wolff, David Peel and John King of the British Antarctic Survey, and I am also pleased to
be able to acknowledge the earlier guidance of the late Dr Geof Cripps (also of BAS). Prof. Joan Albaiges
(Barcelona) and other leaders and members of regional teams contributed to the PTS definitions used in
Chapter 1.
Assembling the data was reliant on access to the peer-reviewed literature data. Christine Phillips, librarian at
the British Antarctic Survey, and Shirley Sawtell, of the library at the Scott Polar Research Institute, provided
invaluable help with access to material. A `critical mass' was provided by the bibliography assembled by the
Antarctic Environmental Officers Network (AEON) of the Council of Managers of National Antarctic
Programmes (COMNAP). Mandy Dalton of the SCAR office re-formatted the final draft of the report and
provided valuable additional material.
Finally, my thanks go to Paul Whylie at UNEP for his support and patience, and to Dr Hans Martin of Global
Change Strategies International, who led the preparation of the Arctic regional assessment which formed the
model for this report.
Julian Priddle
Science Training and Education Partnership
Barrington
Cambridge UK
v
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
This assessment of persistent toxic substances (PTSs) in Antarctica forms part of a regionally-based global
assessment. The Antarctic has been important in highlighting the pervasive nature of anthropogenic pollution.
The discovery of DDT-related compounds in Antarctic biota in the 1960s and in the environment in the 1970s
was a clear and well publicized indication of the global impact of human activities. At the same time, interest
was focused on Antarctica as a key wilderness area. To some extent, this ignored the reality of significant
human impact in the region, both through `visible' local effects (such as the impacts of marine exploitation),
and through the `invisible' effects of global pollutant emissions.
This assessment of PTSs shows that Antarctica responds to activities both within the region and outside. The
Antarctic environment is not pristine: there has been considerable but very localised human impact within the
region. It is clear that pollutants are transported there from outside the region and that for many compounds
this is the `end of the line'. Polar regions could be a sink for some forms of low and mid-latitude pollution.
However, in a global context, the region remains relatively uncontaminated, and provides an opportunity to
monitor the health of the planet. Data presented here indicate the reality of this proposal and what needs to be
done to make this practical.
Antarctica is unlike other regions covered by this global assessment. The continent is a barren wilderness with
a very small, non-native population and with no industry or agriculture. The surrounding oceans support more
life, but are still inhospitable and partially ice-covered.
Contaminant sources
Antarctica and the adjacent islands and ocean have a very small human population. Human presence in the
region is concerned largely with scientific investigations. Logistics operations in support of these pelagic
fisheries are an important operation in some parts of the region and tourism is increasingly becoming an
important activity. Both of these may account for slight increases in emissions of some PTSs.
Pesticides are neither produced nor applied in the region. There appear to be no data suggesting that any
permanent habitation in Antarctica is a local source of pesticide PTSs. No industrial compounds are
manufactured in the region and where they are used and subsequently released, it is in very small quantities.
Most data refer to PCBs, where relatively high levels of environmental and biotic contamination in small areas
of the coastal marine ecosystem have been associated with accidental local release of lubricants and other
PCBs. Accidental by-products, such as dioxins and PAHs, can again result from human activities. Data on
PAHs in the marine ecosystem probably represent the most extensive record and include comprehensive studies
of a small number of oil spillages.
Environmental levels
There is a range of data on levels of PTS in the abiotic environment in the region. In practice, sampling is
patchy, and the full range of environmental media has not been sampled for any class of compound. There has
been a decline in air concentrations of chlordane and heptachlor epoxide between the 1980s and 1990s, but both
are present in the air only at pg m-3 concentrations. Data for total DDT concentrations in air show a marked
decline over the last two decades. In 1995, the `background' atmospheric concentration appears to have been
of the order of 0.1 pg m-3, whilst concentrations had been as high as 100-200 pg m-3 in the early 1980s. The
ratio of DDT to DDE also appears to be declining, suggesting that `new' DDT is no longer entering the region.
It is likely that HCB and HCH have also declined over the last two decades, but that this decline is not as
significant as that seen for DDT. Current air concentrations of the compounds are 60 pg m-3 for HCB and 20
pg m-3 for -HCH.
There is a comparatively large amount of data for environmental levels of PCBs. Concentrations in air for
individual compounds range from 0.1- 2.5 pg m-3. Overall, it seems likely there is no significant long-term
trend. Analyses of PCB levels in marine sediments derive predominantly from locally contaminated sites,
where concentrations may be 250-4300 ng g-1, in contrast to background levels of 18-28 ng g-1. The only data
for environmental levels of dioxins and furans come from an area of contamination, but suggest that upper
vi
limits for background air concentrations could be 0.12 pg m-3 for total PCDDs and 0.02 pg m-3 for PCDFs.
The introduction to PAH to the region is a combination of global input, low-level and long-term natural and
anthropogenic sources and catastrophic incidents with no long-term trend. Generally, uncontaminated seawater
has PAH concentrations 1 µg kg-1. PAH concentrations in marine sediments vary from undetectable to 10 ng
g-1. At sites of local contamination, corresponding values can be much higher: >200 µg kg-1 (for short periods)
in seawater and 60 000 ng g-1 in long-term contaminated sediments.
Levels in biota
In contrast to the apparent declines in environmental concentrations of pesticides, for some compounds there
are increases in biological loadings. This is probably the case for dieldrin, and most likely for DDT.
Concentrations of DDT and derivatives in endemic birds and mammals levels increased over the period from
the early 1960s to the early 1980s. Typical values for high-latitude penguins, which accumulate their total
DDT burden within the regions, were 300 ng g-1 (lipid mass) in the mid 1990s. Overall, DDE predominates
over DDT, which is consistent with the decline in DDT use worldwide. However, the ratio DDE:DDT has
increased more rapidly in biotic samples than in the environment, suggesting that DDE is accumulating in the
ecosystem.
Concentrations of HCB and HCH in marine biota are often lower than those for DDT, whereas recent
atmospheric concentrations of these two compounds exceed those of DDT by an order of magnitude. For a
similar suite of endemic birds and mammals, HCB concentration was 150 ng g-1 lipid mass, and the range of -
HCH concentrations was 17-103 ng g-1 lipid mass.
PCBs have been shown to be an important local contaminant in the marine ecosystem, but there is a wide range
of biotic data. Overall, there is a ten-fold variation in PCB loadings in benthic invertebrates between
contaminated and uncontaminated sites. Away from contaminated sites, it is suggested that PCB concentration
increases up the food chain, suggesting bioaccumulation.
Studies of PAH loadings in marine biota, especially benthic invertebrates, have been undertaken in response to
specific pollution incidents and lower-level, persistent pollution. There are strong contrasts between animals
from clean and contaminated sites and over a recovery period. For instance, limpets sampled soon after a major
oil-fuel spillage had whole-tissue total PAH loading up to 125 000 ng g-1 DM, but this declined to about 180 ng
g-1 DM two years later.
Major pathways of contaminant transport
With the exception of low-level and usually highly localised emissions of PTSs within the region, introduction
of PTSs to Antarctica and the Southern Ocean comes entirely from extra-regional sources. The Antarctic
continent and the peri-Antarctic islands are isolated from the rest of the world by an extensive ocean. Any form
of overland transport of PTS such as transboundary river flow does not operate.
Over much of the height of the atmosphere, the circulation systems in the two hemispheres operate separately,
and the timescale of exchange between these is long. For some PTS classes, it is possible to use data on
composition to confirm the southern hemisphere origin of the source region. For instance, the predominant use
of lindane in the southern hemisphere can be correlated with the high proportion of -HCH in air of total HCH.
Transport in the atmosphere will be rapid and will be likely to reflect time-varying properties of the source.
Some studies have been able to identify trends in concentration over a period of about a decade which agree
with global estimates. On a shorter timescale, variation in PTS concentration in air can be correlated with
conditions which will link that sampling site to likely extra-regional sources.
Ocean water from the neighbouring oceans can penetrate the ocean around Antarctica in two ways. First,
southward flowing water at depths of about 2 km penetrates the Southern Ocean as a component of the so-
called `global ocean conveyor' circulation. Probably the most important input is from the North Atlantic via
the southwards flow of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) which upwells into the ACC. This water will
have accumulated any PTS load mainly in the northern hemisphere, and will have been isolated from the ocean
surface for a considerable time. The surface circulation also exchanges with neighbouring oceans by the
penetration of mesoscale eddies or core rings. The most intense exchange takes place where the southward
flowing western boundary currents of the Indian and South Pacific Oceans, and to a lesser extent the South
vii
Atlantic Oceans, meet the ACC. Various unique properties of the environment and ecosystem will modify the
way in which PTSs are released and distributed once they have arrived in the region.
Preliminary assessment of regional capacity and needs
Data presented in the report arise from a wide range of studies, some of which are concerned with local issues,
such as the fate of PAH following an oil spill, whilst others are designed to build an understanding of how PTS
concentrations reflect global patterns and trends. The final assessment in the report is built around a series of
questions which examine the suitability of future studies to form part of a global monitoring study:
Would continuation of the existing type and level of monitoring carried out in the region be adequate to
underpin a future global monitoring study?
If not, is there a need for a new, coordinated monitoring programme?
Can existing national or multinational science programmes in the region sustain such a monitoring effort?
Is the information currently available sufficient to design a more systematic monitoring programme?
Based on the current assessment, it is likely that future monitoring in the region would form an important
component of a global assessment of PTSs. This will require the initiation of new systematic studies which
make effective use of existing data. For most compounds, further research is needed to understand the
dynamics of their input to the region, their deposition and storage and their dynamics in the environment and
ecosystems.
Where existing data are too sparse to construct a time series or baseline, additional research will be needed in
order to interpret the archive records preserved in snow and ice. Such samples potentially record time series of
atmospheric concentrations with annual resolution over decades for some locations. However, their
interpretation requires a good understanding of the current relationship between PTS levels in air and snowfall,
and the relationship between regional air concentrations and the location and variability of extra-regional
sources.
Key recommendations
· Following further quality control, existing data need to be archived in a way in which they can be used
effectively in a global assessment
· Data on biotic loadings need to be assessed and brought to common bases in order to construct reliable
pictures of spatial and temporal variability and of ecosystem effects
· Studies are needed to understand how PTSs are deposited in the region in snowfall and how this relates
to the atmospheric content of PTSs and to physical conditions
· Studies are needed to understand the ways in which PTSs may be stored in different components of the
abiotic environment and how these stores may subsequently be mobilised
· Models of atmospheric transport should be developed to include region-specific dynamics such as
deposition in snowfall
· Back trajectory analysis should be undertaken where possible for all existing studies of air and
cryosphere (snow and ice) concentrations, in order to understand temporal and spatial variability in the
context of likely sources
· Existing data should be used to identify potential sites for inclusion in a global monitoring network and
to define suitable samples for PTS analysis
· Agency support should be sought for routine sample collection and analysis to contribute to future
global monitoring of PTSs
· With increasing exploitation of marine resources in the Southern Ocean, potential hazards to human
health from consumption of krill, squid, fish and marine mammals need to be identified.
viii
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 OVERVIEW OF THE RBA PTS PROJECT
Following the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety, the UNEP Governing
Council decided in February 1997 (Decision 19/13 C) that immediate international action should be initiated to
protect human health and the environment through measures which will reduce and/or eliminate the emissions
and discharges of an initial set of twelve persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Accordingly an
Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) was established with a mandate to prepare an international
legally binding instrument for implementing international action on certain persistent organic pollutants. These
series of negotiations have resulted in the adoption of the Stockholm Convention in 2001. The initial 12
substances fitting these categories that have been selected under the Stockholm Convention include: aldrin,
endrin, dieldrin, chlordane, DDT, toxaphene, mirex, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, PCBs, dioxins and furans.
Beside these 12, there are many other substances that satisfy the criteria listed above for which their sources,
environmental concentrations and effects are to be assessed.
Persistent toxic substances can be manufactured substances for use in various sectors of industry, pesticides, or
by-products of industrial processes and combustion. To date, their scientific assessment has largely
concentrated on specific local and/or regional environmental and health effects, in particular "hot spots" such as
the Great Lakes region of North America or the Baltic Sea.
1.1.1 Objectives
There is a need for a scientifically-based assessment of the nature and scale of the threats to the environment
and its resources posed by persistent toxic substances that will provide guidance to the international community
concerning the priorities for future remedial and preventive action. The assessment will lead to the
identification of priorities for intervention, and through application of a root cause analysis will attempt to
identify appropriate measures to control, reduce or eliminate releases of PTS, at national, regional or global
levels.
The objective of the project is to deliver a measure of the nature and comparative severity of damage and
threats posed at national, regional and ultimately at global levels by PTS. This will provide the GEF with a
science-based rationale for assigning priorities for action among and between chemical related environmental
issues, and to determine the extent to which differences in priority exist among regions.
1.1.2 Results
The project relies upon the collection and interpretation of existing data and information as the basis for the
assessment. No research will be undertaken to generate primary data, but projections will be made to fill
data/information gaps, and to predict threats to the environment. The proposed activities are designed to obtain
the following expected results:
· Identification of major sources of PTS at the regional level;
· Impact of PTS on the environment and human health;
· Assessment of transboundary transport of PTS;
· Assessment of the root causes of PTS related problems, and regional capacity to manage these
problems;
· Identification of regional priority PTS related environmental issues; and
· Identification of PTS related priority environmental issues at the global level.
1
The outcome of this project will be a scientific assessment of the threats posed by persistent toxic substances to
the environment and human health. The activities to be undertaken in this project comprise an evaluation of the
sources of persistent toxic substances, their levels in the environment and consequent impact on biota and
humans, their modes of transport over a range of distances, the existing alternatives to their use and remediation
options, as well as the barriers that prevent their good management.
1.2 METHODOLOGY
1.2.1 Regional
divisions
To achieve these results, the globe is divided into 12 regions namely: Arctic, North America, Europe,
Mediterranean, Sub-Saharan Africa, Indian Ocean, Central and North East Asia (Western North Pacific), South
East Asia and South Pacific, Pacific Islands, Central America and the Caribbean, Eastern and Western south
America, Antarctica. The twelve regions were selected based on obtaining geographical consistency while
trying to reside within financial constraints.
1.2.2 Management
structure
The project is directed by the project manager who is situated at UNEP Chemicals in Geneva,
Switzerland. A Steering Group comprising of representatives of other relevant intergovernmental
organisations along with participation from industry and the non-governmental community is
established to monitor the progress of the project and provide direction for the project manager. Each
region is controlled by a regional coordinator assisted by a team of approximately 4 persons. The co-
ordinator and the regional team are responsible for promoting the project, the collection of data at the
national level and to carry out a series of technical and priority setting workshops for analysing the
data on PTS on a regional basis. Besides the 12 POPs from the Stockholm Convention, the regional
team selects the chemicals to be assessed for its region with selection open for review during the
various workshops undertaken throughout the assessment process. Each team writes the regional
report for the respective region.
1.2.3 Data
processing
Data is collected on sources, environmental concentrations, human and ecological effects through
questionnaires that are filled at the national level. The results from this data collection along with
presentations from regional experts at the technical workshops, are used to develop regional reports on the PTS
selected for analysis. A priority setting workshop with participation from representatives from each country
results in priorities being established regarding the threats and damages of these substances to each region. The
information and conclusions derived from the 12 regional reports will be used to develop a global report on the
state of these PTS in the environment.
The project is not intended to generate new information but to rely on existing data and its assessment to arrive
at priorities for these substances. The establishment of a broad and wide- ranging network of participants
involving all sectors of society was used for data collection and subsequent evaluation. Close cooperation with
other intergovernmental organizations such as UNECE, WHO, FAO, UNPD, World Bank and others was
obtained. Most have representatives on the Steering Group Committee that monitors the progress of the
project and critically reviews its implementation. Contributions were garnered from UNEP focal points,
UNEP POPs focal points, national focal points selected by the regional teams, industry, government agencies,
research scientists and NGOs.
2
1.2.4 Project
funding
The project costs approximately US$4.2 million funded mainly by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) with
sponsorship from countries including Australia, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA. The
project runs between September, 2000 to April, 2003 with the intention that the reports be presented to the first
meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the Stockholm Convention projected for 2003/4.
1.3 SCOPE OF THE ANTARCTIC REGIONAL ASSESSMENT
Antarctica is unlike other regions covered by this assessment. The continent itself is a barren wilderness with a
very small, non-native population and with no industry or agriculture. The surrounding oceans support more
life, but are still inhospitable and partially ice-covered. Although various nations have made claims to
Antarctic territory, these claims are held in abeyance. Human activities on land are regulated by the Antarctic
Treaty. Because of the very small human population, the local introduction of pollutants is slight and, with a
few notable exceptions, the effects can be demonstrated only within a few hundred metres of the source. This
means that pollutant concentrations over much of the Antarctic environment are determined almost entirely by
activities outside the region. Transport of pollutants into the Antarctic system will be mediated by atmospheric
and oceanic processes.
Within the context of the present regionally-based assessment of persistent toxic substances (PTSs), the
Antarctic region presents some incongruous features. Nearly all of the human activities which result in major
deliberate or accidental release of PTSs in other regions are not undertaken in Antarctica and the Southern
Ocean. Although local introduction of PTSs can be demonstrated, these introductions are minor in both their
geographic scale and in the amounts of material involved. These introductions are predominantly accidental,
and current environmental protection protocols probably mean that they will decline further.
These features of the region may at first sight suggest that inclusion of Antarctica in the assessment is a poor
use of resources. However, this neglects the crucial value that data from almost-pristine environments can have
in providing a means of monitoring global events. This value was first revealed in the 1960s when DDT and its
congeners were detected in Antarctic marine biota, demonstrating the pervasiveness of some PTSs after a few
decades of use. This message was underlined by the discovery of the effects of another group of anthropogenic
compounds, the CFCs. Studies of ozone over the Antarctic continent were the first signal that the extensive use
of these supposedly benign compounds was having a significant and unexpected global impact.
This report will detail the data relating to the occurrence of a number of PTSs, both in the environment and in
biota. It will present the smaller dataset relating to the impacts of these materials in the region, and provide
initial evaluation of the potential extra-regional sources for PTSs and how these are transported into the region.
The capacity of the scientific programmes working in the region to monitor PTSs will be assessed in the
context of the use of Antarctic data as a global monitor.
1.3.1 Existing
assessments
Unlike the Arctic, where a coordinated assessment of environmental pollution has been undertaken recently
(AMAP 1998), there is no comparable current overview of pollution in the Antarctic. A group of
environmental officers from national Antarctic programmes has been formed under the aegis of the Council of
Managers of National Antarctic Programmes (COMNAP). This group AEON - has produced a summary of
environmental monitoring activities in Antarctica (http://www.comnap.aq/aeon). This is a moderately
comprehensive listing of summaries of monitoring activities, with bibliographies, and formed the starting point
for developing this report.
Some other landmark publications have appeared over the last decade. The GESAMP survey State of the
Marine Environment included a Southern Ocean assessment (Strömberg et al. 1990). Several research and
3
review papers were published together in 1992 in a special issue of Marine Pollution Bulletin (volume 25,
combined issues 9-12, 1992) which brought together several key studies and reviews relating to pollution in the
Antarctic marine environment. However, much of the literature, especially more modern results, are scattered
through a range of journals and other publications. Although some recent papers provide data syntheses for
certain groups of compounds or types of sample, no comprehensive summary for the region as a whole has
been published. There is a single review for the Ross Sea area, published as a `state of the environment report'
by the New Zealand Antarctic Institute (Waterhouse et al. 2001). This review is comprehensive, and because it
covers a geographic area where both PTS studies and human impact have been concentrated, provides an
invaluable case study.
1.3.2 Inter-regional links and collaboration
It is impossible to consider an assessment of PTSs in any region without reference to other parts of the world.
In the case of Antarctica, this is especially important because of two factors:
First, the overwhelming input of PTSs to the environment and biota derive from outside the region. Thus a
regional assessment must take into account data from at least the adjacent Southern Hemisphere regions in
order to place the regional data in a global context.
Second, most of the region is not under direct national jurisdiction (see section 1.4 below). Many countries
participate in Antarctic research, and most of these are northern hemisphere nations.
This combination of circumstances resembles the situation in the Arctic, although at least the nation states
involved there are not so widely dispersed in relation to the boundary of the region.
Thus both international and inter-regional collaboration are implicit in the compilation of this regional
assessment, and will be absolutely essential if it is to be integrated effectively into a global assessment.
1.3.3 Omissions and weaknesses
The relatively short time for the preparation of this report and the lack of a solid foundation of regional
assessment has meant that the report may not be as comprehensive as it might be. The literature base is small,
but scattered.
Because the occurrence of pollutants in Antarctica is determined largely by transport from emission sources
outside the region, knowledge of both sources and transport routes and mechanisms is vital to an understanding
of persistent toxic substances at both a regional and global level. However, the scope for such an approach is
limited by paucity of data, and this is a problem which cannot be solved from an Antarctic perspective alone.
It will require a pan-regional approach.
1.4 METHODOLOGY
This initial report is based on material published in the peer-reviewed literature. This provides a crude index of
the data quality, although it would be naďve to expect a uniform level of data quality across a wide range of
journals and a wide period of time.
Several national scientific programmes have included assessment of PTSs, although the coverage has been
patchy in time and space. For the most part, monitoring activities have been descriptive, especially focussed on
the use of measurements in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean to provide baseline global data from a region
wholly devoid of local production of PTSs, and with relatively trivial local contamination. A few studies have
been motivated by local pollution incidents, and recent environmental legislation has prompted a more
thorough assessment of some PTSs in the context of research and logistics activities. However, there has been
no concerted campaign to establish an internationally-coordinated network for monitoring PTSs in Antarctica,
4
although there are bodies in the Antarctic research and logistics organizations which could provide the basis for
such a network (SCAR and COMNAP, 1996, SCAR 2001).
Data from Antarctica have the potential to provide a useful baseline for global PTS levels. There are
measurements of concentrations of a range of PTSs in the contemporary environment and biota, and records for
a more limited suite of PTSs over longer timescales based on data archives derived from ice cores and other
long-term records.
Preparation of the report was contracted by UNEP to the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR),
the ICSU (International Council for Science) body which provides international coordination for scientific
research in Antarctica (http://www.scar.org/). It has been based on literature data only, amplifying the
COMNAP-AEON summary and adapting this to the UNEP regional report format. Because of the shortage of
time and resources, the raw data have not been entered to the UNEP PTS questionnaires, but the data will be
accessible via SCAR in due course.
1.5 GENERAL DEFINITIONS OF CHEMICALS
The UNEP regionally-based assessment of PTSs covers a total of twenty-six compounds, including the twelve
persistent organic pollutants (POPs) covered under the Stockholm Convention. Data are not available for all
compounds in the assessment list, and information is given in this section only for those where data are
presented in this regional report. These are: aldrin, endrin, dieldrin, chlordane, DDT, heptachlor, mirex,
toxaphene, hexachlorobenzene, PCBs, dioxins and furans, HCH (lindane), organic mercury, organic tin and
polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Toxicity data refer almost exclusively to organisms found outside the
region.
1.5.1 Persistent Toxic Substances Pesticides
1.5.1.1 Aldrin
Chemical Name: 1,2,3,4,10,10-Hexachloro-1,4,4a,5,8,8a-hexahydro-1,4-endo,exo-5,8-dimethanonaphthalene
(C12H8Cl6). CAS Number: 309-00-2
Properties: Solubility in water: 27 µg dm-3 at 25°C; vapour pressure: 2.3 x 10-5 mm Hg at 20°C; log KOW:
5.17-7.4.
Discovery/Uses: It has been manufactured commercially since 1950, and used throughout the world up to the
early 1970s to control soil pests such as corn rootworm, wireworms, rice water weevil, and grasshoppers. It has
also been used to protect wooden structures from termites.
Persistence/Fate: Readily metabolized to dieldrin by both plants and animals. Biodegradation is expected to be
slow and it binds strongly to soil particles, and is resistant to leaching into groundwater. Aldrin was classified
as moderately persistent with half-life in soil and surface waters ranging from 20 days to 1.6 years.
Toxicity: Aldrin is toxic to humans; the lethal dose for an adult has been estimated to be about 80 mg kg-1
body weight. The acute oral LD50 in laboratory animals is in the range of 33 mg kg-1 body weight for guinea
pigs to 320 mg kg-1 body weight for hamsters. The toxicity of aldrin to aquatic organisms is quite variable, with
aquatic insects being the most sensitive group of invertebrates. The 96-h LC50 values range from 1-200 µg dm-3
for insects, and from 2.2-53 µg dm-3 for fish. The maximum residue limits in food recommended by
FAO/WHO varies from 0.006 mg kg-1 milk fat to 0.2 mg kg-1 meat fat. Water quality criteria between 0.1 to
180 µg dm-3 have been published.
1.5.1.2 Dieldrin
Chemical Name: 1,2,3,4,10,10-Hexachloro-6,7-epoxy-1,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8a-octahydroexo-1,4-endo-5,8-
dimethanonaphthalene (C12H8Cl6O). CAS Number: 60-57-1
Properties: Solubility in water: 140 µg dm-3 at 20°C; vapour pressure: 1.78 x 10-7 mm Hg at 20°C; log KOW:
3.69-6.2.
Discovery/Uses: It appeared in 1948 after World War II and used mainly for the control of soil pests such as
corn rootworms, wireworms and catworms.
5
Persistence/Fate: It is highly persistent in soils, with a half-life of 3-4 years in temperate climates, and it
bioconcentrates in organisms. The persistence in air has been estimated in 4-40 h.
Toxicity: The acute toxicity for fish is high (LC50 between 1.1 and 41 mg dm-3) and moderate for mammals
(LD50 in mouse and rat ranging from 40 to 70 mg kg-1 body mass - BM). However, a daily administration of 0.6
mg kg-1 to rabbits adversely affected the survival rate. Aldrin and dieldrin mainly affect the central nervous
system but there is no direct evidence that they cause cancer in humans. The maximum residue limits in food
recommended by FAO/WHO varies from 0.006 mg kg-1 milk fat and 0.2 mg kg-1 poultry fat. Water quality
criteria between 0.1 to 18 µg dm-3 have been published.
1.5.1.3 Endrin
Chemical Name: 3,4,5,6,9,9-Hexachloro-1a,2,2a,3,6,6a,7,7a-octahydro-2,7:3,6-dimethanonaphth[2,3-
b]oxirene (C12H8Cl6O). CAS Number: 72-20-8
Properties: Solubility in water: 220-260 µg dm-3 at 25 °C; vapour pressure: 2.7 x 10-7 mm Hg at 25°C; log
KOW: 3.21-5.34.
Discovery/Uses: It has been used since the 1950s against a wide range of agricultural pests, mostly on cotton
but also on rice, sugar cane, maize and other crops. It has also been used as a rodenticide.
Persistence/Fate: Is highly persistent in soils (half-lives of up to 12 y have been reported in some cases).
Bioconcentration factors of 14 to 18 000 have been recorded in fish, after continuous exposure.
Toxicity: Endrin is very toxic to fish, aquatic invertebrates and phytoplankton; the LC50 values are mostly less
than 1 µg dm-3. The acute toxicity is high in laboratory animals, with LD50 values of 3-43 mg kg-1, and a dermal
LD50 of 5-20 mg kg-1 in rats. Long term toxicity in the rat has been studied over two years and a NOEL of 0.05
mg kg-1 BM d-1 was found.
1.5.1.4 Chlordane
Chemical Name: 1,2,4,5,6,7,8,8-Octachloro-2,3,3a,4,7,7a-hexahydro-4,7-methanoindene (C10H6Cl8). CAS
Number: 57-74-9
Properties: Solubility in water: 56 µg dm-3 at 25°C; vapour pressure: 0.98 x 10-5 mm Hg at 25 °C; log KOW:
6.00.
Discovery/Uses: Chlordane appeared in 1945 and was used primarily as an insecticide for control of
cockroaches, ants, termites, and other household pests. Technical chlordane is a mixture of at least 120
compounds. Of these, 60-75% are chlordane isomers, the remainder being related to endo-compounds including
heptachlor, nonachlor, diels-alder adduct of cyclopentadiene and penta/hexa/octachlorocyclopentadienes.
Persistence/Fate: Chlordane is highly persistent in soils with a half-life of about 4 years. Its persistence and
high partition coefficient promotes binding to aquatic sediments and bioconcentration in organisms.
Toxicity: LC50 from 0.4 mg dm-3 (pink shrimp) to 90 mg dm-3 (rainbow trout) have been reported for aquatic
organisms. The acute toxicity for mammals is moderate with an LD50 in rat of 200-590 mg kg-1 BM (19.1 mg
kg-1 BM for oxychlordane). The maximum residue limits for chlordane in food are, according to FAO/WHO
between 0.002 mg kg-1 milk fat and 0.5 mg kg-1 poultry fat. Water quality criteria of 1.5 to 6 µg dm-3 have been
published. Chlordane has been classified as a substance for which there is evidence of endocrine disruption in
an intact organism and possible carcinogenicity to humans.
1.5.1.5 Heptachlor
Chemical Name: 1,4,5,6,7,8,8-Heptachloro-3a,4,7,7a-tetrahydro-4,7-methanoindene (C10H5Cl7). CAS
Number: 76-44-8
Properties: Solubility in water: 180 µg dm-3 at 25°C; vapour pressure: 0.3 x 10-5 mm Hg at 20°C; log KOW:
4.4-5.5.
Production/Uses: Heptachlor is used primarily against soil insects and termites, but also against cotton insects,
grasshoppers, and malaria mosquitoes. Heptachlor epoxide is a more stable breakdown product of heptachlor.
Persistence/Fate: Heptachlor is metabolised in soils, plants and animals to heptachlor epoxide, which is more
stable in biological systems and is carcinogenic. The half-life of heptachlor in soil is in temperate regions 0.75
2 y. Its high partition coefficient provides the necessary conditions for bioconcentration in organisms.
Toxicity: The acute toxicity of heptachlor to mammals is moderate (LD50 values between 40 and 119 mg kg-1
have been published). The toxicity to aquatic organisms is higher and LC50 values down to 0.11 µg dm-3 have
been found for pink shrimp. Limited information is available on the effects in humans and studies are
6
inconclusive regarding heptachlor and cancer. The maximum residue levels recommended by FAO/WHO are
between 0.006 mg kg-1 milk fat and 0.2 mg kg-1 meat or poultry fat.
1.5.1.6 Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane
(DDT)
Chemical Name: 1,1,1-Trichloro-2,2-bis-(4-chlorophenyl)-ethane (C14H9Cl5). CAS Number: 50-29-3.
Properties: Solubility in water: 1.2-5.5 µg dm-3 at 25°C; vapour pressure: 0.2 x 10-6 mm Hg at 20°C; log KOW:
6.19 for pp'-DDT, 5.5 for pp'-DDD and 5.7 for pp'-DDE.
Discovery/Use: DDT appeared for use during World War II to control insects that spread diseases like malaria,
dengue fever and typhus. Following this, it was widely used on a variety of agricultural crops. The technical
product is a mixture of about 85% pp'-DDT and 15% op'-DDT isomers.
Persistence/Fate: DDT is highly persistent in soils with a half-life of up to 15 years and of 7 days in air. It also
exhibits high bioconcentration factors (in the order of 50 000 for fish and 500000 for bivalves). In the
environment, the product is metabolized mainly to DDD and DDE.
Toxicity: The lowest dietary concentration of DDT reported to cause egg shell thinning was 0.6 mg/kg for the
black duck. LC50 of 1.5 mg dm-3 for largemouth bass and 56 mg dm-3 for guppy have been reported. The acute
toxicity of DDT for mammals is moderate with an LD50 in rat of 113-118 mg kg-1 BM. DDT has been shown to
have an oestrogen-like activity, and possible carcinogenic activity in humans. The maximum residue level in
food recommended by WHO/FAO range from 0.02 mg kg-1 milk fat to 5 mg kg-1 meat fat. Maximum
permissible DDT residue levels in drinking water (WHO) is 1.0 µg dm-3.
1.5.1.7 Toxaphene
Chemical Name: Polychlorinated bornanes and camphenes (C10H10Cl8). CAS Number: 8001-35-2
Properties: Solubility in water: 550 µg dm-3 at 20°C; vapour pressure: 3.3 x 10-5 mm Hg at 25°C; log KOW :
3.23-5.50.
Discovery/Uses: Toxaphene has been in use since 1949 as a nonsystemic insecticide with some acaricidal
activity, primarily on cotton, cereal grains fruits, nuts and vegetables. It was also used to control livestock
ectoparasites such as lice, flies, ticks, mange, and scab mites. The technical product is a complex mixture of
over 300 congeners, containing 67-69% chlorine by weight.
Persistence/Fate: Toxaphene has a half life in soil from 100 d up to 12 y. It has been shown to bioconcentrate
in aquatic organisms (BCF of 4 247 in mosquito fish and 76 000 in brook trout).
Toxicity: Toxaphene is highly toxic in fish, with 96-hour LC50 values in the range of 1.8 µg dm-3 in rainbow
trout to 22 µg dm-3 in bluegill. Long term exposure to 0.5 µg dm-3 reduced egg viability to zero. The acute oral
toxicity is in the range of 49 mg kg-1 BM in dogs to 365 mg kg-1 in guinea pigs. In long term studies NOEL in
rats was 0.35 mg kg-1 BM d-1, LD50 ranging from 60 to 293 mg kg-1 BM. For toxaphene exists a strong evidence
of the potential for endocrine disruption. Toxaphene is carcinogenic in mice and rats and is of carcinogenic risk
to humans, with a cancer potency factor of 1.1 mg kg-1 BM d-1 for oral exposure.
1.5.1.8 Mirex
Chemical Name: 1,1a,2,2,3,3a,4,5,5a,5b,6-Dodecachloroacta-hydro-1,3,4-metheno-1H-cyclobuta[cd]pentalene
(C10Cl12). CAS Number: 2385-85-5
Properties: Solubility in water: 0.07 µg dm-3 at 25°C; vapour pressure: 3 x 10-7 mm Hg at 25°C; log KOW: 5.28.
Discovery/Uses: The use in pesticide formulations started in the mid 1950s largely focused on the control of
ants. It is also a fire retardant for plastics, rubber, paint, paper and electrical goods. Technical grade
preparations of mirex contain 95.19% mirex and 2.58% chlordecone, the rest being unspecified. The name
`Mirex' is also used to refer to bait comprising corncob grits, soya bean oil, and mirex.
Persistence/Fate: Mirex is considered to be one of the most stable and persistent pesticides, with a half-life is
soils of up to 10 years. Bioconcentration factors of 2 600 and 51 400 have been observed in pink shrimp and
fathead minnows, respectively. It is capable of undergoing long-range transport due to its relative volatility
(VPL = 4.76 Pa; H = 52 Pa m 3 mol-1).
Toxicity: The acute toxicity of Mirex for mammals is moderate with an LD50 in rat of 235 mg kg-1 and dermal
toxicity in rabbits of 80 mg kg-1. Mirex is also toxic to fish and can affect their behaviour (LC50 (96 h) from 0.2
to 30 mg dm-3 for rainbow trout and bluegill, respectively). Delayed mortality of crustaceans occurred at 1 µg
dm-3 exposure levels. There is evidence of its potential for endocrine disruption and possibly carcinogenic risk
to humans.
7
1.5.1.9 Hexachlorobenzene
(HCB)
Chemical Name: Hexachlorobenzene (C6H6). CAS Number: 118-74-1
Properties: Solubility in water: 50 µg dm-3 at 20°C; vapour pressure: 1.09 x 10-5 mm Hg at 20°C; log KOW:
3.93-6.42.
Discovery/Uses: It was first introduced in 1945 as fungicide for seed treatments of grain crops, and used to
make fireworks, ammunition, and synthetic rubber. Today it is mainly a by-product in the production of a large
number of chlorinated compounds, particularly lower chlorinated benzenes, solvents and several pesticides.
HCB is emitted to the atmosphere in flue gases generated by waste incineration facilities and metallurgical
industries.
Persistence/Fate: HCB has an estimated half-life in soils of 2.7-5.7 years and of 0.5-4.2 years in air. HCB has
a relatively high bioaccumulation potential and long half-life in biota.
Toxicity: LC50 for fish varies between 50 and 200 µg dm-3. The acute toxicity of HCB is low with LD50 values
of 3.5 mg g-1 for rats. Mild effects of the [rat] liver have been observed at a daily dose of 0.25 mg kg-1 BM.
HCB is known to cause liver disease in humans (porphyria cutanea tarda) and has been classified as a possible
carcinogen to humans by IARC.
1.5.1.10 Hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCH)
Chemical Name: 1,2,3,4,5,6-Hexachlorocyclohexane (mixed isomers) (C6H6Cl6). CAS Number: 608-73-1 (-
HCH, lindane: 58-89-9).
Properties: -HCH: solubility in water: 7 000 µg dm-3 at 20°C; vapour pressure: 3.3 x 10-5 mm Hg at 20°C; log
KOW: 3.8.
Discovery/Uses: There are two principle formulations: "technical HCH", which is a mixture of various
isomers, including -HCH (55-80%), -HCH (5-14%) and -HCH (8-15%), and "lindane", which is essentially
pure -HCH. Historically, lindane was one of the most widely used insecticides in the world. Its insecticidal
properties were discovered in the early 1940s. It controls a wide range of sucking and chewing insects and has
been used for seed treatment and soil application, in household biocidal products, and as textile and wood
preservatives.
Persistence/Fate: Lindane and other HCH isomers are relatively persistent in soils and water, with half lives
generally greater than 1 and 2 years, respectively. HCH are much less bioaccumulative than other
organochlorines because of their relatively low liphophilicity. On the contrary, their relatively high vapour
pressures, particularly of the -HCH isomer, determine their long-range transport in the atmosphere.
Toxicity: Lindane is moderately toxic for invertebrates and fish, with LC50 values of 20-90 µg dm-3. The acute
toxicity for mice and rats is moderate with LD50 values in the range of 60-250 mg kg-1. Lindane resulted to have
no mutagenic potential in a number of studies but an endocrine disrupting activity has been observed.
1.5.2 Persistent Toxic Substances - Industrial compounds
1.5.2.1 Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
Chemical Name: Polychlorinated biphenyls (C12H(10-n)Cln, where n is within the range of 1-10). CAS Number:
Various (e.g. for Aroclor 1242, CAS No.: 53469-21-9; for Aroclor 1254, CAS No.: 11097-69-1);
Properties: Water solubility decreases with increasing chlorination: 0.01 to 0.0001 µg dm-3 at 25°C; vapour
pressure: 1.6-0.003 x 10-6 mm Hg at 20°C; log KOW: 4.3-8.26.
Discovery/Uses: PCBs were introduced in 1929 and were manufactured in different countries under various
trade names (e.g., Aroclor, Clophen, Phenoclor). They are chemically stable and heat resistant, and were used
worldwide as transformer and capacitor oils, hydraulic and heat exchange fluids, and lubricating and cutting
oils. Theoretically, a total of 209 possible chlorinated biphenyl congeners exist, but only about 130 of these are
likely to occur in commercial products.
Persistence/Fate: Most PCB congeners, particularly those lacking adjacent unsubstituted positions on the
biphenyl rings (e.g., 2,4,5-, 2,3,5- or 2,3,6-substituted on both rings) are extremely persistent in the
environment. They are estimated to have half-lives ranging from three weeks to two years in air and, with the
exception of mono- and di-chlorobiphenyls, > 6 y in aerobic soils and sediments. PCBs also have extremely
long half-lives in adult fish, for example, an eight-year study of eels found that the half-life of CB153 was >10
y.
Toxicity: LC50 for the larval stages of rainbow trout is 0.32 µg dm-3 with a NOEL of 0.01 µg dm-3. The acute
toxicity of PCB in mammals is generally low and LD50 values in rat of 1 g kg-1 BM. IARC has concluded that
8
PCB are carcinogenic to laboratory animals and probably also for humans. They have also been classified as
substances for which there is evidence of endocrine disruption in an intact organism.
1.5.3 Persistent Toxic Substances - Unintended by-products
1.5.3.1 Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and Polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs)
Chemical Name: PCDDs (C12H(8-n)ClnO2) and PCDFs (C12H(8-n)ClnO) may contain between 1 and 8 chlorine
atoms. Dioxins and furans have 75 and 135 possible positional isomers, respectively. CAS Number: Various
(2,3,7,8-TetraCDD: 1746-01-6; 2,3,7,8-TetraCDF: 51207-31-9).
Properties: Solubility in water: in the range 0.430.0002 ng dm-3 at 25°C; vapour pressure: 20.007 x 10-6 mm
Hg at 20°C; log KOW: in the range 6.608.20 for tetra- to octa-substituted congeners.
Discovery/Uses: They are by-products resulting from the production of other chemicals and from the low-
temperature combustion and incineration processes. They have no known use.
Persistence/Fate: PCDD/Fs are characterized by their lipophilicity, semi-volatility and resistance to
degradation (half life of TCDD in soil of 10-12 years) and to long-range transport. They are also known for
their ability to bio-concentrate and biomagnify under typical environmental conditions.
Toxicity: The toxicological effects reported refers to the 2,3,7,8-substituted compounds (17 congeners) that
are agonists for the AhR. All the 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDDs and PCDFs plus coplanar PCBs (with no chlorine
substitution at the ortho positions) show the same type of biological and toxic response. Possible effects include
dermal toxicity, immunotoxicity, reproductive effects and teratogenicity, endocrine disruption and
carcinogenicity. At the present time, the only persistent effect associated with dioxin exposure in humans is
chloracne. The most sensitive groups are foetus and neonatal infants.
Effects on the immune systems in the mouse have been found at doses of 10 ng kg-1 BM d-1, while reproductive
effects were seen in rhesus monkeys at 1-2 ng kg-1 BM d-1. Biochemical effects have been seen in rats down to
0.1 ng kg-1 BM d-1. In a re-evaluation of the TDI for dioxins, furans (and planar PCB), the WHO decided to
recommend a range of 1-4 TEQ pg kg-1 BM, although more recently the acceptable monthly intake value has
been set at 1-70 TEQ pg kg-1 BM.
1.5.3.2 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
Chemical Name: PAHs is a group of compounds consisting of two or more fused aromatic rings. CAS
Number:
Properties: Solubility in water: 0.00014 -2.1 mg dm-3 at 25şC; vapour pressure: from 0.0015 x 10-9 to 0.0051
mmHg at 25°C; log KOW: 4.79-8.20
Discovery/Use: Most of these are formed during incomplete combustion of organic material and the
composition of PAHs mixture vary with the source(s) and also due to selective weathering effects in the
environment.
Persistence/Fate: Persistence of the PAHs varies with their molecular weight. The low molecular weight
PAHs are most easily degraded. The reported half-lives of naphthalene, anthracene and benzo(e)pyrene in
sediment are 9, 43 and 83 hours, respectively, whereas for higher molecular weight PAHs, their half-lives are
up to several years in soils/sediments. The BCFs in aquatic organisms frequently range between 100-2000 and
it increases with increasing molecular size. Due to their wide distribution, the environmental pollution by PAHs
has aroused global concern.
Toxicity: The acute toxicity of low PAHs is moderate with an LD50 of naphthalene and anthracene in rat of 490
and 18000 mg kg-1 BM respectively, whereas the higher PAHs exhibit higher toxicity and LD50 of
benzo(a)anthracene in mice is 10 mg kg-1 BM. In Daphnia pulex, LC50 for naphthalene is 1.0 mg dm-3, for
phenanthrene 0.1 mg dm-3 and for benzo(a)pyrene is 0.005 mg dm-3. The critical effect of many PAHs in
mammals is their carcinogenic potential. The metabolic action of these substances produces intermediates that
bind covalently with cellular DNA. IARC has classified benz[a]anthracene, benzo[a]pyrene, and
dibenzo[a,h]anthracene as probably carcinogenic to humans. Benzo[b]fluoranthene and indeno[1,2,3-
c,d]pyrene were classified as possible carcinogens to humans.
1.5.4 Organometals
9
1.5.4.1 Organotin
compounds
Chemical Name: Organotin compounds comprise mono-, di-, tri- and tetrabutyl and triphenyl tin compounds.
They conform to the following general formula (n-C4H9)nSn-X and (C6H5)3Sn-X, where X is an anion or a
group linked covalently through a hetero-atom. CAS Number: 56-35-9 (TBTO); 76-87-9 (TPTOH)
Properties: Solubility in water: 4 mg dm-3 (TBTO) and 1 mg dm-3 (TPTOH) at 25°C and pH 7; vapour
pressure: 7.5 x 10-7 mm Hg at 20°C (TBTO) 3.5 x 10-8 mmHg at 50şC (TPTOH); log KOW: 3.19 - 3.84. In sea
water and under normal conditions, TBT exists as three species in seawater (hydroxide, chloride, and
carbonate).
Discovery/Uses: They are mainly used as antifouling paints (tributyl and triphenyl tin) for underwater
structures and ships. Minor identified applications are as antiseptic or disinfecting agents in textiles and
industrial water systems, such as cooling tower and refrigeration water systems, wood pulp and paper mill
systems, and breweries. They are also used as stabilizers in plastics and as catalytic agents in soft foam
production. It is also used to control the shistosomiasis in various parts of the world.
Persistence/Fate: Under aerobic conditions, TBT takes 1 to 3 months to degrade, but in anaerobic soils may
persist for more than 2 years. Because of the low water solubility it binds strongly to suspended material and
sediments. TBT is lipophilic and tends to accumulate in aquatic organisms. Oysters exposed to very low
concentrations exhibit BCF values from 1 000 to 6 000.
Toxicity: TBT is moderately toxic and all breakdown products are even less toxic. Its impact on the
environment was discovered in the early 1980s in France with harmful effects in aquatic organisms, such as
shell malformations of oysters, imposex in marine snails and reduced resistance to infection (e.g. in flounder).
Molluscs react adversely to very low levels of TBT (0.06-2.3 µg dm-3). Lobster larvae show a nearly complete
cessation of growth at just 1.0 µg dm-3 TBT. In laboratory tests, reproduction in snails was inhibited when
females exposed to 0.05-0.003 µg dm-3 of TBT developed male characteristics. Large doses of TBT have been
shown to damage the reproductive and central nervous systems, bone structure, and the liver bile duct of
mammals.
1.5.4.2 Organomercury
compounds
Chemical Name: The main compound of concern is methyl mercury (HgCH3). CAS Number: 22967-92-6
Properties: Solubility in water: 0.1 g dm-3 at 21°C (HgCH3Cl) and 1.0 g dm-3 at 25şC (Hg(CH3)2); vapour
pressure: 8.5 x 10-3 mm Hg at 25°C (HgCH3Cl); log KOW: 1.6 (HgCH3Cl) and 2.28 (Hg(CH3)2).
Production/Uses: There are many sources of mercury release to the environment, both natural (volcanoes,
mercury deposits, and volatilization from the ocean) and human-related (coal combustion, chlorine alkali
processing, waste incineration, and metal processing). It is also used in thermometers, batteries, lamps,
industrial processes, refining, lubrication oils, and dental amalgams. Methyl mercury has no industrial uses; it is
formed in the environment by methylation of the inorganic mercurial ion mainly by microorganisms in the
water and soil.
Persistence/Fate: Mercury released into the environment can either stay close to its source for long periods, or
be widely dispersed on a regional or even world-wide basis. Not only are methylated mercury compounds
toxic, but highly bioaccumulative as well. The increase in mercury as it rises in the aquatic food chain results in
relatively high levels of mercury in fish consumed by humans. Ingested elemental mercury is only 0.01%
absorbed, but methyl mercury is nearly 100% absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. The biological half-life
of mercury is 60 days.
Toxicity: Long-term exposure to either inorganic or organic mercury can permanently damage the brain,
kidneys, and developing foetus. The most sensitive target of low level exposure to metallic and organic
mercury following short or long term exposures appears to be the nervous system.
1.6 DEFINITION OF THE ANTARCTIC REGION
Antarctica cannot be defined by national boundaries. The landmass south of 60şS is not under the jurisdiction
of any nation although claims of parts of the land mass are made by several nations, these claims are
suspended under the Antarctic Treaty. In reaching a definition of the Antarctic region for this assessment, an
initial functional description was used, based on the approximate northern boundary of the Southern Ocean, and
this was then adjusted make it as relevant to the study without infringing the `territory' of the neighbouring
regions in the assessment.
10
For this assessment, a regional definition is required which encompasses the landmass, peri-Antarctic islands
and the Southern Ocean from the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone southwards to the coast of the continent. The
definition suggested here is a region south of the boundaries of the region of the Southern Ocean, together with
some peri-Antarctic islands which are typically included in Antarctic research. This area is delimited as
follows:
All land and ocean in region south of the following boundary:
South of 50°S from 50°W to 30°E
South of 45°S from 30°E to 80°E
South of 55°S from 80°E to 150°E
South of 60°S from 150°E to 50°W
Île St Paul and Île Amsterdam 38°S, 77.5°E (administered by France)
Macquarie Island 54.5°S, 159°E (administered by Australia)
Gough Island 40°S, 10°W (administered by United Kingdom)
Figure 1-1. Map of the area covered by the Antarctic region. The Antarctic continent is shown in the centre of
the image. The main darker grey area around it shows the boundary of the CCAMLR convention area. The
three smaller circles indicate the positions of the island groups included in the regional definition but outside
the CCAMLR area. Zero, 90 and 180 longitude, and outlines of southern South America, New Zealand and
Australia are included for reference
This definition is amplified in the following text:
1. The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) has a definition of its `area of interest'. This
definition uses the Antarctic Convergence (the northern boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current) to
11
delimit the Southern Ocean and to include most of the peri-Antarctic islands. However, the SCAR area of
interest specifically includes some islands which are located slightly to the north of this oceanographic
boundary (see below 3).
2. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has defined a
similar oceanographic boundary for its area of jurisdiction. This definition is more convenient in that it is
based on standard lines of latitude and longitude, corresponding to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) Fishery Areas in the Southern Ocean.
2.1. The latitude of the boundary of the CCAMLR area varies with longitude, and can be summarised as
follows:
From 50°W to 30°E the boundary is at 50°S
From 30°E to 80°E the boundary is at 45°S
From 80°E to 150°E the boundary is at 55°S
From 150°E to 50°W the boundary is at 60°S
3. The SCAR Area of Interest includes several islands and island groups which are sub-Antarctic in character
but fall outside the notional boundary of the Antarctic Treaty (under which territorial claims are in abeyance).
Of these, the following also fall outside the CCAMLR region boundary:
Île St Paul and Île Amsterdam 38°S, 77.5°E (administered by France)
Macquarie Island 54.5°S, 159°E (administered by Australia)
Gough Island 40°S, 10°W (administered by United Kingdom)
The following islands and island groups which are outside the Antarctic Treaty area fall within the CCAMLR
area
Marion Island and Prince Edward Islands 46.8°S, 37.5°E (administered by South Africa)
Îles Crozet 46°S, 51°E (administered by France)
Îles Kerguelen 49°S, 69°E (administered by France)
Heard Island 53.5°S, 73.5°E (administered by Australia)
South Georgia 54.3°S, 36.6°W (administered by the United Kingdom)
South Sandwich Islands 56°S, 27°W (administered by the United Kingdom)
Bouvetřya 54.5°S, 3.5°W (administered by Norway)
4. The following nations undertake research programmes in this region and may contribute to the UNEP PTS
assessment:
Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany,
India, Italy, Japan, Korea, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain,
Sweden, Ukraine, The United Kingdom, The United States of America, Uruguay
1.7 PHYSICAL
SETTING
Antarctica and the Southern Ocean is a remote region, with no indigenous human population and no industrial
activity. Human activity is minimal, and mostly very localized. The overwhelming majority of PTS loading to
the environment and biota derives from global rather than local input. The region defined in the previous
section encompasses three components the continental landmass, the surrounding circumpolar ocean, and a
number of islands and island groups.
1.7.1 The terrestrial environment
12
The continent of Antarctica is a cold desert, and experiences an extreme climate. Temperatures in winter can
drop below -50°C in the middle of the continent. The major differences in solar radiation between winter and
summer have important consequences for climate and the environment, and for biota.
The landmass is mostly covered by an ice sheet which can exceed 4 km in thickness. Although Antarctica is
the smallest continent, it has the highest mean elevation because of the thickness of the ice sheet. Beneath this
ice sheet, parts of the land surface are below sea level, and geologically the continental landmass can be
separated into two parts. The large and geologically ancient region of East Antarctica is predominantly a
Precambrian shield. It lies to the south of Africa and Australia. South of South America is the geologically
younger region known as West Antarctica, which comprises five separate crustal blocks.
The ice sheet has accumulated from snowfall over very long periods. The compacted snow and underlying ice
provide a record of atmospheric composition, and this has been used to interpret variation in climate and
atmospheric composition over hundreds of thousands of years. The temporal resolution of such records is
dependent on accumulation rate. Typical snowfall over much of the continent is low, but in some areas close to
the coast snow may be high enough to allow the resolution of annual or even seasonal variability (PAGES
1997).
Figure 1-2. Contrasting Antarctic landscapes. The left-hand panel shows an aerial view of the continental ice-
cap, with the peaks of mountains (nunataks) emerging through the ice. The right-hand panel shows a botanist
sampling from a moss-peat bank in the South Orkney Islands, where the climate is less extreme and lowland
areas become snow-free in summer. The barren scree in the background is more typical scenery for much of
the ice-free regions at the coast and on islands. (Photographs courtesy of the British Antarctic Survey)
Most exposed land comprises bare rock, and it is only in more hospitable regions close to the coast and on
neighbouring islands that limited vegetation cover develops. Terrestrial ecosystems are simple for the most
part, with vegetation dominated by cryptogams and the fauna limited to small invertebrate animals no more
than a few millimetres in size. Soil development is poor. Inland water bodies may be more productive than the
surrounding land, although their ecosystems are also very simple. Surface run-off can be locally intense on
`warm' days in summer, but there are no river systems comparable to those in the Arctic.
1.7.2 The marine environment
The Southern Ocean occupies a belt between 55-70°S. The more southerly part of this zone is covered by sea
ice for all or part of the year. Water temperatures vary very slightly in both time and space. Summer
temperatures may be as high as 3-4°C in the northern part of the Southern Ocean, decreasing to slightly below
zero close to the continent. The annual range of water temperature is typically only a few degrees. Despite this
13
apparently hostile environment, the Southern Ocean supports a diverse biota, in strong contrast to Antarctic
terrestrial ecosystems. The region supports a number of fisheries, some of which are of global importance.
Previous episodes of marine resource exploitation, most notably whaling in the 20th century, resulted in
catastrophic declines in stocks. Southern Ocean fisheries are now the subject of international conservation
measures under the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). In the
case of whaling, the Southern Ocean has been declared a sanctuary area by the International Whaling
Commission (IWC).
14
1.7.3 Islands
The region defined in 1.4 includes a wide variety of islands, from ice-covered islands close to the Antarctic
continent to those at lower latitude where there is little or no permanent ice and snow cover and where
terrestrial ecosystems are better developed. Many of these islands house research stations, so they contribute
data to the PTS assessment even though they form a very small geographic component of the region. Useful
introductions to the geography and ecology of these islands are given by King (1969) and Bonner & Walton
(1985).
Figure 1-3. The marine and island environments. Left-hand panel shows a winter scene in a bay on the
Antarctic Peninsula. The sea is covered with a layer of sea ice which is about 1 metre thick. An iceberg,
calved from a floating ice shelf, is in the forground, whilst the mountains and land ice-cap are visible in the
background. Right-hand panel shows a small part of a large penguin rookery on subantarctic Bird Island. The
large population of marine birds and mammals are an indication of the productivity of the marine ecosystem.
(Photographs courtesy of the British Antarctic Survey)
1.8 AN OUTLINE OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION
The system for regulation of human activities and impacts in the region are dealt with in detail in a later
chapter. However, a brief statement of the framework helps to provide a perspective for the next few chapters.
All of the Antarctic continent and many of the associated islands lie south of 60°S and are subject to the
Antarctic Treaty. This treaty places any territorial claims in abeyance, and sets out a code governing national
activities. Amongst other elements, all military activity is prohibited. Mineral exploitation has been effectively
banned for the foreseeable future.
Until the last decade, nearly all human activity in the Antarctic Treaty area was concerned with scientific
research and monitoring. In recent years, increase in other activities, especially in fisheries and tourism, has
resulted in greater numbers of visitors to the region. However, the number of humans in the region remains
small, and the majority visit in the southern summer and are restricted to a few locations.
15
Environmental protection within the Antarctic Treaty area is governed by a protocol to the treaty (see SCAR
1993). This protocol states that `activities in the Antarctic Treaty area shall be planned and conducted so as to
limit adverse impacts on the Antarctic environment and dependent and associated ecosystems'. The protocol
includes provision for environmental impact assessment, which carries a monitoring component related to local
activities. Any wastes containing PTS are required to be removed from the Antarctic (Annex III, Article 2).
Some classes of material, including PCBs, are specifically prohibited under the protocol (Annex III, Article 7).
Discharges of `noxious substances' to the marine environment are prohibited (Annex IV, Article 4).
16
2 SOURCE
CHARACTERISATION
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Antarctica and the adjacent islands and ocean, as defined in section 1.4, have a very small human population.
There is no industrial activity and no agriculture. Human presence in the region is concerned largely with
scientific investigations and the logistics operations in support of these. The greatest impact can be expected
where research is carried out at long-term stations, but even these typically have populations of less than 100
people. Pelagic fisheries are an important operation in some parts of the region (Figure 2-1), and tourism is
also an increasingly important activity (Figure 2-2). Both of these may account for slight increases in
emissions of some PTSs, but these will normally be highly dispersed.
E. superba fishery 1982-82 to 1999-2000
C. gunnari fishery 1982-83 to 1999-2000
D. eleginoides fishery 1982-83 to 1999-2000
600000
180000
20000
160000
18000
500000
16000
140000
14000
400000
120000
12000
100000
300000
10000
80000
8000
200000
60000
6000
40000
4000
100000
20000
2000
0
0
0
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
Year
Year
Year
Figure 2-1. Fisheries patterns in the Southern Ocean during the last two decades of the 20th century. The
fishery for krill, Euphausia superba, is one of the largest open-ocean crustacean fisheries in the world. Some
fisheries, such as the mackerel icefish, Champsocephalus gunnari, have already been overexploited, whilst
others are developing, such as that for toothfish, Dissostichus elegenoides. (Data courtesy of CCAMLR)
1992-2002 ANTARCTIC TOURIST TRENDS - Landed
[Includes Ship and Land-based passenger numbers. 1997-98 onwards includes commercial yacht activity.]
16,000
14,500
13,826
14,298
14,000
13,193
12,248
12,000
10,883
11,588
10,590
10,013
9,604
10,000
9,061
9,367
7,991 8,016
8,120
7,679
Projected
8,000
7,413
6,704
Est. Actual
6,512
6,524
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
1992-93
1993-94
1994-95
1995-96
1996-97
1997-98
1998-99
1999-00
2000-01
2001-02
ANTARCTIC AUSTRAL SUMMER SEASONS
Figure 2-2. Tourism in Antarctica has increased rapidly since the mid-1970s. The figure shows reported and
projected visits undertaken by operators who are members of the International Association of Antarctica Tour
Operators. (Data courtesy of IAATO)
Human activity within the region can, and does, introduce small amounts of some PTSs into the environment.
These releases are associated mainly with
Transport air, sea and land vehicles
Use of some `industrial' PTSs in machinery and in small engineering processes
Waste disposal, including incineration
With the exception of ship, aircraft and vehicle transport, both within the region and to and from the region,
these releases are predominantly highly localised. Studies of PTSs around established research stations
17
typically detect the impact of these sites only within a few hundred metres. Even in a few extreme cases where
the sites have been occupied for a long period, and were established when attitudes to environmental protection
were very much more relaxed than under current requirements, no effects can be detected at distances greater
than a kilometre.
A few pollution `spillages' from maritime accidents and from coastal research stations have provided case
studies which have allowed more detailed examination of the effects of local incidents. Most of these have
been fuel releases, providing extensive data on local contamination by PAHs, their dispersal and fate in the
local environment, and their impact on biota (e.g. Platt & Mackie 1979, Cripps 1990b, Pople et al. 1990,
Kennicutt et al. 1991, Kennicutt & Sweet 1992, Cripps & Shears 1997,. Smith & Simpson 1998).
The region cannot be considered to be a source of PTSs to adjacent regions. On the other hand there is
compelling evidence that the overwhelming majority of loadings of most PTSs to the region derives from
outside the Antarctic (e.g. Tatton & Ruzicka 1967, Peel 1975, Risebrough et al. 1976, Tanabe et al 1982, 1983,
Focardi et al. 1991, 1992, Risebrough 1992, Bidleman et al. 1993, Oehme et al. 1995, Kallenborn et al. 1998).
This aspect will be covered in section 4 of the report here attention is confined to local inputs.
2.1.1 Persistent Toxic Substances Pesticides
Pesticides are neither produced nor applied in the region. Trace contamination of aircraft and ships following
decontamination en route to Antarctica, and contamination of materials imported to the region might also
introduce very small amounts of pesticide. However, these amounts are only of concern in the context of
possible degradation of data on global background levels, rather than being a significant input in their own
right. There appear to be no data suggesting that any permanent habitation in Antarctica is a local source of
pesticide PTSs in the way that can be demonstrated for some industrial compounds and unintended by-
products.
2.1.2 Persistent Toxic Substances - Industrial Compounds
No materials in this category are manufactured in the region, and where they are used and subsequently
released it is in very small quantities. These releases are trivial in a global context, but data for some
compounds provide important means of defining the `fingerprint' of release of PTSs from research stations.
This information in turn allows the sampling strategy needed to be refined to capitalise on the value of
Antarctica as means of monitoring global pollution levels and transport.
In this and subsequernt sections of this chapter, reported values are as presented in the original published
source. However, units have been brought to a common format to allow intercomparison for instance µg g-1
would be converted to ng g-1 for consistency with ther data for a single PTS. The abbreviation `nd' is used to
indicate `not detectable', although levels of detection are not given. More data on the geopgraphic location of
samples can obtained in Appendices 1 and 2.
2.1.2.1 Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
The most comprehensive studies have been carried out close to the US McMurdo Station. This is the largest
permanent human settlement in the region (excepting some land-based whaling stations on peri-Antarctic
islands, operating mainly in the early-to-mid 20th century). The population of the station reached close to 1000
people over the summer season in the early 1970s, and this was supported by complex infrastructure and
logistics. This period preceded the present-day rigorous attitudes to environmental protection in Antarctica,
and the site was described by King (1969) as `a sprawling conglomeration of huts on Ross Island which has all
the makeshift qualities of a Yukon frontier town in the heyday of the Gold Rush'. It is not surprising that the
long-period of such comparatively intense human activity has left a detectable imprint on the local
environment.
This impact was first documented by Risebrough et al. (1990). They ascribed concentrations of PCBs in
marine sediment close to the station as resulting from waste incineration and other local sources. The PCB
18
`spectrum' was more or less identical with Aroclor 1260 in all but one sample. Kennicutt et al. (1995)
extended the sampling undertaken by Risebrough and colleagues. They were able to demonstrate the extent of
the influence of the station, noting that PCB concentrations were high in sediment in Winter Quarters Bay,
close to the station, but had decreased to background levels within a few hundred metres. Close to the station,
the local input swamped the global signal. PCBs were detected in all sediment samples collected in the
McMurdo Station area, ranging from 250-4300 ng g-1, decreasing rapidly away from sources of contamination
to background levels 18-28 ng g-1.
The volume and type of activity at research stations, and the length and timing of occupation all combine to
determine the impact on the local environment. Kennicutt et al. (1995) also studied the environment around
another US research station. Palmer Station on the Antarctic Peninsula is another site with a long history of
occupation, although the research station has never reached the large scale of the operation at McMurdo
Station. A small number of sediment samples from the adjacent Arthur Harbour analysed for PCBs produced
concentrations of 2.8-4.2 ng g-1, similar to the values for uncontaminated sediments at McMurdo Station. PCBs
were also examined in the tissues of limpets in Arthur Harbour. Concentrations were very low, except adjacent
to the station where levels rose to 28-76 ng g-1, with approximately equal amounts of penta-, hexa- and hepta-
chlorobiphenyls. PCB emission from research stations may also affect the terrestrial environment. In an earlier
study in the vicinity of Palmer Station, Risebrough et al (1976) had identified combustion-derived particulates
from research stations as the source for elevated PCB concentrations in snow in the same area. Monod et al.
(1992) studied PTSs in marine biota close to the French research station on the peri-Antarctic Kerguelen
Islands during the 1970s. Highest levels were close to the research station, arising from refuse burning and
leakage of PCBs from electrical equipment.
Overall, PCB emission from human habitation in Antarctica can be resolved as a pollution footprint in some
cases, although typically the affected region is limited in its spatial extent, and environmental concentrations
are still low in global terms, albeit higher than in nearby environments unaffected by local pollution.
2.1.3 Persistent Toxic Substances - Unintended by-products
The presence of unintended by-products again reveals the small but measurable local influence of human
activity in the region, but the inputs have been extremely small with the exceptions of PAHs. The examples
quoted below are primarily intended to define the extent of the effects of research stations and other sources,
and their signal relative to global levels of these compounds, rather than to identify significant sources on a
regional scale.
2.1.3.1 Polychlorinated
dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs)
There are few data for this group of compounds in the region, and only one study documents evidence for local
emission. Lugar et al. (1996) monitored ambient air at a series of sampling sites at McMurdo Station in 1992-
94. Most frequent, most varied and highest levels of PCDDs and PCDFs were measured in a `downtown'
locations, where concentrations of total PCDDs were 0.12-1.8 pg m-3 and PCDFs were <0.02-2.77 pg m-3.
The data suggest that various combustion sources beside the main solid waste incinerator contributed to the air
loading of PCDDs and PCDFs. These levels are, again, low, and it is also uncertain how much they reflect the
relatively uncontrolled approach to waste disposal operating even in the early 1990s. Contemporary regulation
of waste disposal may mean that some of the waste-burning practices which might have contributed most to
local PCDD and PCDF output are no longer typical of Antarctic operations.
2.1.3.2 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
Long-term human habitation, predominantly research stations but also land-based whale processing plants in
the early-to-mid 20th century, provides sources of PAHs through hydrocarbon fuel spillage and as a by-product
of combustion. As with industrial compounds such as PCBs, the level and extent of this contamination is
small, and is mainly of interest because it enables the identification of those areas in the region which cannot be
considered free from local contamination.
19
Several authors have studied PAHs in the marine environment close to long-term human habitation. Platt and
Mackie (1979, 1980) examined the local impact of a (by then disused) whaling station on the peri-Antarctic
island of South Georgia. Both onshore and shipping activity would have been high in the heyday of operations,
and environmental control lax. Platt and Mackie examined samples in a sediment profile extending back from
the present to the early 1800s, and showed clearly the impact of the whaling station. Cripps (1990a) collected
sediment and seawater samples from the same area and indicated that the whaling station continued to `leak'
PAHs although operations were then over. Total PAH concentrations up to 1.2 mg m-3 were measured in
seawater close to derelict whaling stations at South Georgia.
Cripps (1990b) undertook a more systematic examination of contamination arising from Signy Research
Station, South Orkney Islands: a small (about 20-person summer population) UK research station located in a
cove on an island in the southern Scotia Sea. The station had been operating for approximately 40 years at the
time of sampling. Total PAH concentrations in seawater and sediment were measured along a 3-km transect
seawards from the station. PAH concentrations in seawater varied from 110-216 ng kg-1 , but showed no trend
with distance from the station (in contrast to n-alkanes which decreased after distances >500 m from the
station). PAH and alkane concentrations in the sediment both decreased with increasing distance from the
station. Hydrocarbon pollution could be ascribed in part to known specific events in the operation of the
station, including a small fuel spill in 1965. Cripps and Priddle (1995) also noted the temporal variability in
PAH loading in known-age infaunal bivalves.
A few more significant spillages have occurred, predominantly through accidents with bunker fuel transfer or
shipwreck or collision. Cripps and Shears (1997) followed the fate of an accidental spill of 1000 litres of diesel
fuel at the UK Faraday Station, Galindez Island, Argentine Islands. Total PAH in seawater reached 222 µg kg-
1 on the day after the spill, and returned to `background' levels within one week. However, seven months after
the spill, PAH levels in limpets close to the station were still ten times higher than in those from an
uncontaminated control site. This was ascribed to long-term, low-level input from the station, rather than from
the spill itself.
The most notable pollution incident in region during the late 20th century was the sinking of the ship Bahia
Paraiso close to the US Palmer Research Station, situated in an archipelago along the western coast of the
Antarctic Peninsula. Kennicutt et al (1992a,b,c) quantified the extent and duration of the impact from this
spillage, and how it compared with the longer-term low-level input from the research station. Local sources
other than the shipwreck included diesel and other spillage on land, incineration and marine contamination.
Marine sediment collected along a series of transects radiating from the station area had total PAH
concentrations of nd 11 540 ng g-1. Soils around the station had total PAH 800-86 000 ng g-1. Other samples
collected around the old Palmer research station included very high PAH contamination in one soil sample 345
000 ng g-1. Kennicutt and co-workers also followed the course contamination in the marine environment from
the Bahia Paraiso spillage, and found that contamination in the marine environment and marine biota declined
after two years (Kennicutt and Sweet 1992, Kennicutt et al. 1995).
Kennicutt et al. (1995) summarised PAH data from the vicinity of McMurdo Station (see 2.1.2 above). Total
PAH in the McMurdo area sediments 1990-91 and 1992-93 were below limit of detection to >6000 ng g-1, with
values up to 13 000 ng g-1 in Winter Quarters Bay. Predominance of napthalene and phenanthrene in highly
contaminated samples indicated contribution from spilt fuel. Pyrogenic PAH paralleled fuel PAH
concentrations, suggesting a common origin. Fish tissue from the McMurdo area had PAH values up to 650 ng
g-1 in contaminated areas.
Output of PAHs to the atmosphere results from evaporation and, predominantly, from combustion. Carrichia et
al. (1995) measured particulate PAHs at a series of air-sampling stations set up within 200 m of the Italian
research station at Terra Nova Bay in the Ross Sea. Measurements were undertaken during three consecutive
summer seasons 1990-93. Overall, total PAH particulate concentrations were 15-700 pg m-3. Low air
temperatures implied that most PAH were in particulate rather than vapour phase. Concentrations of individual
compounds were low: 95% of the 11 compounds analysed were in the range 1-50 pg m-3. The values resemble
those from other remote monitoring sites, and are a hundred- to thousand-fold lower than particulate PAH in
polluted urban areas. Electricity generation plant was considered to be the major source of particulate PAH.
Local contamination by PAH is probably the most common PTS impact of human activities in the region, and
is probably also one of the best studied. Comprehensive sampling, with good spatial and temporal datasets in
20
some of the major cases of single pollution incidents, provides a comprehensive picture of the extent and
duration of PAH contamination around single localities. Some other sources of PAH, predominantly emissions
from vehicles and aircraft, will have more widespread impact but would be expected to result in lower increases
in concentration relative to the `global' background.
2.1.4 Organometals
There are very few data for environmental levels of organometals in the region, and of these none provide
definitive indication of local impact rather than larger-scale contamination. Measured environmental levels of
methyl-mercury (MeHg) are low (DeMora et al. 1993) and typically account for about 10% of total gaseous
mercury. Analysis of total mercury in snow suggests limited local contamination (Dick et al. 1990), and similar
conclusions can be reached for other heavy metals such as lead (Suttie & Wolff 1993). Analysis of time-series
from snow cores suggest that atmospheric deposition of mercury in the region has increased over the last few
decades (Sheppard et al. 1991, Görlach & Boutron 1992) but again it is difficult to separate local and global
sources.
2.2 SUMMARY - SOURCE CHARACTERISATION
The very small amount of human activity in the region means that local sources are both limited and localised.
The region cannot be considered to be a source to PTSs to adjacent regions.
There are no demonstrable sources of pesticides within the region. Use of some industrial PTSs in the region
has resulted in local contamination. Within this group, PCBs are the best documented. Local contamination
arises directly from leakage and spillage, and from incineration.
The presence of unintended by-products such as PCDDs, PCDFs and PAHs results from local activity
associated especially with long-term operations in the regions. Again, incineration and transport emissions are
the key means of introducing these PTSs to the local environment, along with spillages in the case of PAHs.
Data for sources of organometals are scarce, although some studies of mercury and lead suggest that there is
limited local contamination.
In all cases where systematic spatial and temporal analyses have been undertaken, such as studies of PCBs and
PAHs in the marine environment, results indicate that local sources are highly localised.
21
3 ENVIRONMENTAL LEVELS, TOXICOLOGICAL AND
ECOTOXICOLOGICAL CHARACTERISATION
3.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents data on the levels of PTSs in the environment and in biota. Where there are sufficient
data, comment is made on temporal variability, and in the case of biota if there are indications of concentration
of PTSs in particular parts of the foodweb. Toxological data are sparse, and generally have been obtained from
research experiments rather than systematic monitoring programmes. A summary is presented here to indicate
the range of information available.
3.2 LEVELS AND TRENDS ABIOTIC ENVIRONMENT
There is a range of data on levels of PTS in the abiotic environment in the region, potentially based on samples
from the following media:
Atmosphere vapour and particulate phases
Seawater and sea ice
Marine sediments
Terrestrial soils and lake sediments
Precipitation, run-off and terrestrial water bodies
Snow and land ice
In practice, sampling is patchy, and the full range of environmental media has not been sampled for any class of
compound. The location and timing of sampling is often determined by logistic and scientific constraints. This
may make it difficult to generalize from relatively sparse datasets to make statements of regional or global
relevance. There are no data at all for some of the compounds considered in this assessment. There is often a
wide range of measured concentrations, and this sometimes reflects the spatial variability of the impact of
minor local sources (discussed in Chapter 2) against a low-level `global' background, as well as temporal
changes in both local and extra-regional sources.
The duration and frequency of sampling is rarely adequate for the description of temporal trends. These have
been constructed for a few PTS, such as DDT, and these typically agree with global trends, indicating the
overwhelming impact of extra-regional emissions as opposed to local input.
Samples from some media provide temporal information in the form of so-called `archive' samples. Examples
are dated sediment series and snow and ice cores. The utility of these data may be restricted by analytical
constraints, but in some cases these have the potential to provide important time-series data. Such samples
could be exploited to remedy the lack of time-series data for many of the PTSs considered here.
3.2.1 Persistent Toxic Substances Pesticides
Pesticides are neither manufactured nor applied within the region. The presence of these PTSs in
environmental samples is an indicator of extra-regional output. Levels for individual compounds will reflect
both the `global' levels and the transport pathways into different environments within the region. Time series
can be constructed for a few pesticides, and these may be comparable with extra-regional trends.
22
3.2.1.1 Chlordane
3.2.1.1.1 Concentrations in air
Chlordane concentration in air has been measured in three studies, two of which are geographically extensive.
Bidleman et al. (1993) undertook a shipborne sampling campaign along a transect from New Zealand to Ross
Sea, January to March 1990. Mean concentration of chlordanes plus nonachlors was 1.8 pg m-3. As with all
compounds measured along this section, concentrations were lowest at Ross Sea end of transect, demonstrating
the expected gradient from low-latitude source regions to lower concentrations at high latitude. Their Table 3
shows published values for a range of PTSs in samples from the region collected between 1980 and 1990, and
demonstrates apparent decline in all compounds. Kawano et al. (1985) undertook a similar, transect-based
sampling programme in the eastern Indian Ocean and in the Southern Ocean south of western Australia during
December 1983-January 1984. The Southern Ocean samples comprise data integrated over long transects of 4
and 2 degrees of latitude respectively. Chlordane (sum of cis-chlordane, trans-chlordane and trans-nonachlor)
concentrations were 4.8 and 7.5 pg m-3 at the northern and southern sites in the Southern Ocean respectively.
Finally, Kallenborn et al. (1998) provide air concentration data for a sample site in the southwest Atlantic
sector. A seventeen-week sampling campaign was undertaken from December 1994 April 1995 at Signy
Island. The concentration range for chlordanes was 0.04-0.9 pg m-3.
The two earlier studies in the early-mid 1980s cover an extensive area and together suggest typical air
concentrations of chlordanes over the Southern Ocean of 2-8 pg m-3. Although the data of Kallenborn et al.
come from a different location in the region, it is unlikely that it would be significantly `cleaner' than the earlier
sample sites. Kallenborn et al. identified the sources of their sampled air, with highest levels coinciding with
storm tracks originating in South America. This suggests that all of the studies discussed here can be taken to
be broadly comparable, and that there has probably been a decline in air concentrations of chlordanes in the
region as a whole between the early 1980s and the late 1990s. Smaller-scale spatio-temporal variability could
be linked directly to atmospheric links between the sampling site and sources of contaminated air.
3.2.1.2 Heptachlor and derivatives
3.2.1.2.1 Concentrations in air
Bidleman et al. (1993) measured heptachlor epoxide concentrations in air along an oceanic transect from New
Zealand to Ross Sea, January to March 1990. Mean concentration along the transect was 0.52 pg m-3, with
lowest concentrations at the Ross Sea end of transect. As with chlordane, data reviewed by Bidleman and
colleagues suggests a decline in air concentration during the 1980s and early 1990s, but there are no more
recent data to assess whether this decline has progressed further.
3.2.1.3 Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane
(DDT)
DDT and its congeners were some of the first PTSs to be analyzed in Antarctic environmental samples, with
positive records from analyses of marine biota in the 1960s and from snow samples in the early 1970s.
3.2.1.3.1 Concentrations in air
There have been several geographically extensive sampling programmes using shipboard sampling on transects
from mid-latitudes to the Antarctic coast. Tanabe et al. (1982a,b) undertook air and surface water sampling on
an Antarctic supply voyage between Japan and the Syowa Research Station in 1980-81. Total DDT (p,p' DDT,
p,p' DDE and o,p' DDT) levels did not show much spatial variability through the study, and Southern Ocean
levels ranged from 0.11-0.23 ng m-3.
In a later paper, Tanabe et al. (1983) report a similar sampling programme in the environs of Syowa Station
and on research voyages in the Indian and Southwest Pacific sectors of the Southern Ocean. Air samples were
23
collected around Syowa 1981-82, and on two extensive voyages in 1980-81 and 1982. Data along a N-S
section from Mauritius to Syowa show marked decline in total air DDT, but DDD-DDT ratio changed little. A
year-round sampling campaign at Syowa indicated marked seasonality, with total DDT concentrations higher in
summer and lower in winter.
Kawano et al. (1985) collected samples of marine air sampled from ship in the eastern Indian Ocean and in the
Southern Ocean south of western Australia during December 1983-January 1984. Total DDTs were 8.4 and 11
pg m-3 at the northern and southern sites in the Southern Ocean.
Air concentrations of total DDT
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
Year
Figure 3-1. Time series of total DDT in air samples from Antarctica. Data sources are cited in the text.
Bidleman et al. (1993) measured a mean air concentration of p,p' DDE plus p,p' DDT of 0.81 pg m-3 during a
shipborne transect between New Zealand and the Ross Sea during January-March 1990. Concentrations were
lowest at the Ross Sea end of the transect. They also review the data for the region between 1980-90, and
suggest a decrease in atmospheric DDT concentration. However, they note that the DDT:DDE ratio of 1.5
suggests fresh DDT was still then reaching the region. The decline in DDT in the region, identified by
Bidleman et al. (1993) from a range of published data, agrees with the global decline in the same period
(Tatsukawa et al. 1990).
In addition to shipborne sampling of marine air, other studies have made measurements on land, albeit close to
the coast. Larsson et al. (1992) carried out a monitoring study at Ross Island in 1988-90. They recorded mean
air concentration values of DDT+DDE of 3 pg m-3. Kallenborn et al. (1998) analyzed air samples at Signy
Island from December 1994 April 1995. Total DDT compounds were present at concentrations of 0.07-0.4 pg
m-3. This site is closer to potential sources of DDT than is the Ross Sea region, so it would seem likely that the
low values recorded in this survey represent a genuine continuation of the decline documented by Bidleman et
al. (1993).
3.2.1.3.2 Concentrations in seawater and sea ice
Surface seawater samples collected on an extensive programme in the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific
sectors (Tanabe et al.1982a,b) showed little spatial variability. Southern Ocean levels were 5-58 pg dm-3.
Tanabe et al. (1983) measured DDT in seawater close to Syowa station, and found that concentrations varied
24
from 1.3-21 pg total DDT dm-3. The study included water samples under fast ice and at the outer margins of
pack- total DDT was lower under fast ice. This and differences in PCB composition suggest that sedimenting
particles are an important process scavenging some compounds from surface seawater.
3.2.1.3.3 Concentrations in precipitation, run-off and terrestrial water bodies
Tanabe et al. (1983) measured DDT concentrations in lake water. Concentrations were similar to those in
seawater, varying from 1.3-21 pg total DDT dm-3.
3.2.1.3.4 Concentrations in snow and land ice
George & Frear (1966) failed to detect DDT in water and snow sampled around McMurdo Station, although
they did detect it in marine mammals and birds. Peterle (1969) provides the first positive record of DDT in
Antarctic snow, although Peel (1975) suggests that these values were probably 50 times too high. Risebrough
et al. (1976) provide more comprehensive data for DDT concentrations in snow. They collected snow samples
during January-February 1975 at from a pit dug in a permanent snow-field on Doumer Island, close to the US
Palmer Station and the smaller Chilean Yelchio Station. Concentration of pp'DDT increased with snow depth
(i.e. from younger to older snow), ranging from 0.5 pg g-1 in the top 0.5 m, rising to 4 pg g-1 at 3.5-4 m depth
and then declining to 2 pg g-1 at 5.5-6 m depth. Concentrations of pp'DDE also increased down the snow
profile, and showed a similar shaped distribution. The ratio of p,p''DDT to p,p''DDE was approximately 10
throughout the profile. The snow profile is not dated, but this is a region of high snow accumulation, with
surface firn accumulation at about 1-2 m per year, so that the deepest snow in the Risebrough profile would be
little more than a decade before the sampling (David Peel pers comm). This would date the DDT and DDE
peaks at no earlier than 1970. Tanabe et al. (1983) also measured DDT concentrations in snow, collected close
to the Syowa Station. Inland snow samples, both deep and shallow, showed similar levels of total DDT,
suggesting similar deposition rate between the 1960s and the 1980s in contrast to the Risebrough et al. data.
Overall snow samples were 9-17 pg total DDT dm-3. The bulk density of snow pack is not given, and will be
significantly less than 1 kg dm-3, but these last concentrations must still be substantially lower than the Douner
Island values. Since the samples in the two studies cited here probably span similar time periods, the contrast
between the two results points to a large amount of spatial variability in the deposition of DDT in Antarctic
precipitation.
3.2.1.3.5 Spatial and temporal variability
Overall, snow and air samples provide time series data for DDT deposition in the Antarctic environment,
although these data are clearly also affected by other sources of variability. Data for concentrations in air show
a marked decline over the sampling period (Figure 3-1). In 1995 the `background' atmospheric concentration
of DDT in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean appears to have been of the order of 0.1 pg m-3, whilst
concentrations had been as high as 100-200 pg m-3 in the early 1980s. Data from snow sampling potentially
extend this time series back to the 1960s-70s, when atmospheric concentrations were probably even higher.
The ratio of DDE to DDT also appears to be increasing. Risebrough et al. (1976) estimated a ratio of
approximately 0.1 for samples of snow which probably span the period 1965-75, whilst Bidleman et al. (1983)
calculated a ratio of 0.33. This conforms with the decrease in addition of new DDT to the southern hemisphere
atmosphere, although it is clear that fresh DDT continued to reach the region in the 1980s
3.2.1.4 Hexachlorobenzene
(HCB)
3.2.1.4.1 Concentrations in air
Bidleman et al. (1993) carried out measurements along their shipborne transect between New Zealand and the
Ross Sea, January to March 1990. Mean air concentration of HCB was 60 pg m-3. Concentrations were lowest
at Ross Sea end of the transect. Their Table 3 demonstrates an apparent decline in HCB concentration over
their entire sampling area between 1980 and 1990, but this does not include more samples specific to the
region.
25
3.2.1.5 Hexachlorocyclohexanes
(HCH)
3.2.1.5.1 Concentrations in air
Tanabe et al. (1982a,b) collected air and surface seawater samples during an Antarctic supply voyage between
Japan and the Syowa Research Station in 1980-81. Highest total HCH concentrations were encountered in the
northern hemisphere. Levels were low in air over the Southern Ocean, with a concentration range of 90-170 pg
m-3. The authors provide detailed discussion of patterns of concentration and characterisation in relation to
production and sources. They suggest that HCH composition in Southern Ocean samples corresponded with
lindane use in the southern hemisphere. In a later study, Tanabe et al. (1983) sampled both along two extensive
cruise tracks and around a coastal Antarctic research station. Air concentrations of HCH were measured along
a N-S section from Mauritius to the Syowa Station. There was a marked decline in total HCH towards the
southern end of the section, although there was an HCH peak at about 63°S. HCH isomeric composition
changed along the transect, with increasing importance of HCH south of 63°S. The paper describes regional
variation, suggesting that air samples taken off Syowa derived from air over the Atlantic, whilst those taken in
Southern Ocean locations south of Australia derived from more contaminated air over the Indian Ocean. A
year-round sampling campaign at Syowa indicated marked seasonality in total HCH. Concentrations were
higher in summer and lower in winter.
Air concentration of gamma-HCH
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
Year
Figure 3-2. Time series of concentration of -HCH in Antarctic air samples. Data sources are cited in the text.
Bidleman et al. (1993) found mean air concentrations of - and -HCH 4 and 3.8 pg m-3 respectively along a
transect between New Zealand and the Ross Sea. As with other PTSs in this study, concentrations were lowest
at the Ross Sea end of the transect.
Larsson et al. (1992) carried out a study of various PTSs at Ross Island in 1988-90. The mean air
concentration of -HCH was 26 pg m-3. Highest concentrations occurred in summer the variation over the
period from March to December was 0.5-118 pg m-3. Kallenborn et al. (1998) report data from a seventeen
week sampling campaign at Signy Island, December 1994 April 1995. Mean air concentration of -HCH was
22 pg m-3.
26
3.2.1.5.2 Concentrations in seawater and sea ice
Tanabe et al. (1982a,b) collected surface seawater samples during an Antarctic supply voyage between Japan
and the Syowa Research Station in 1980-81. Lowest levels were found in the Southern Ocean, where
concentrations in surface seawater ranged from 260-920 pg dm-3. Tanabe et al. (1983) measured HCH
concentrations in seawater close to Syowa station, where concentrations varied from 210-930 pg dm-3 total
HCH. Total HCH concentrations were similar in water samples under fast ice and at outer margins of pack ice,
in contrast to data for DDT and PCBs.
3.2.1.5.3 Concentrations in precipitation, run-off and terrestrial water bodies
Tanabe et al. (1983) found that lake water and seawater had similar concentrations, varying from 210-930 pg
dm-3 total HCH.
3.2.1.5.4 Concentrations in snow and land ice
Inland snow samples collected by Tanabe et al. (1983), both deep and shallow, showed similar levels
of total HCH, suggesting similar deposition rate since 1960s. Overall snow sample concentrations
were 1500-4900 pg dm-3 total HCH. In ice (type not specified) total HCH concentrations were 2000-
2200 pg dm-3.
3.2.1.5.5 Spatial and temporal variability
In a review of data for the 1980s and early 1990s, Bidleman et al. (1993) demonstrated a decline in HCH air
concentrations in the region. Taken with the later data from Kallenborn et al. (1998), this decline appears to be
sustained, but seems to be less dramatic than the decrease in DDT over the same period (Figure 3-2), and
indicates that input of HCH to the region continues. Air concentrations of -HCH of about 20 pg m-3 have
been recorded as mean values from studies in different parts of the region from the late 1980s through to the
mid 1990s. In contrast the lowest recorded levels range from undetectable to about 0.5 pg m-3. As Tanabe et
al. (1983) point out, there is also considerable spatial variability in atmospheric concentrations of HCH,
reflecting differences in source regions and atmospheric transport.
3.2.2 Persistent Toxic Substances - Industrial Compounds
In contrast to pesticides, some industrial compounds have been used within the region, although the quantities
used and the resulting contamination remain very low and typically highly-localised. Environmental levels are
available only for PCBs.
3.2.2.1 Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
3.2.2.1.1 Concentrations in air
Tanabe et al. (1982a) measured PCBs in air samples on Antarctic supply voyages between Japan and the Syowa
Research Station in 1980-81. Unlike other PTSs analysed in the study, PCB concentrations showed no north-
south gradient, although this is at variance with other similarly extensive studies reported here. For instance,
Tanabe et al. (1983) report an extensive sampling programme in the environs of Syowa Station and on research
voyages in the Indian and Southwest Pacific sectors of the Southern Ocean1980-82. Along a N-S section from
Mauritius to Syowa there was a marked decline in total air PCBs. A year-round sampling campaign at Syowa
indicated marked seasonality in PCBs - concentrations were higher in summer and lower in winter.
Two more recent studies have been carried out in the south-west Atlantic sector of the region. Kallenborn et al.
(1998) conducted a seventeen-week air-sampling campaign on Signy Island from December 1994 April 1995.
Many data were close to detection limits. Concentrations for single PCBs were 0.02-17 pg m-3. Ockenden et
27
al. (2001) established two air-monitoring sites - one in the Falkland Islands (outside the region covered by this
report) and at Halley Research Station on the eastern coast of the Weddell Sea. PCBs were monitored
throughout 1999. Particulate concentrations were generally below the limit of detection. Vapour-phase
concentrations were higher at the Falklands site than at Halley. Higher concentrations at each site coincided
with higher temperatures. Concentrations over land were lower than over the adjacent ocean. The authors note
that PCB concentrations in the Southern Ocean region were generally higher than in the Arctic. Halley data for
mean vapour-phase concentrations for individual PCBs were: PCB 28 2.5 pg m-3, PCB 52 <0.1 pg m-3, PCB
101 0.25 pg m-3, PCB 138 0.4 pg m-3, PCB 153 0.3 pg m-3, PCB 180 0.2 pg m-3.
3.2.2.1.2 Concentrations in seawater and sea ice
Data for surface seawater showed concentrations varying from 35-69 pg dm-3 total PCBs (Tanabe et al. 1983).
Total PCB concentrations were similar under fast ice and at the outer margins of the pack ice.
3.2.2.1.3 Concentrations in marine sediments
Sampling of marine sediments for PCBs has typically been undertaken in regions of known contamination.
Most work has been carried out in the vicinity of McMurdo Research Station in the Ross Sea. Risebrough et
al. (1990) found typical total PCB concentration in surface sediment of 500 ng g-1. Composition was identical
with Aroclor 1260 in all but one sample. Kennicutt et al. (1995) also sampled PCBs in sediment from Winter
Quarters Bay, near the McMurdo Station. They confirmed that the composition corresponded to Aroclor 1260,
with little evidence for degradation. PCBs were detected in all sediment samples collected at McMurdo, with
total PCB concentrations ranging from 250-4300 ng g-1. Concentrations decreased rapidly away from sources
of contamination and the authors describe background levels of 18-28 ng g-1. Risebrough et al. (1990) also
measured PCTs (polychlorinated terphenyls) in the contaminated sediments from McMurdo. PCTs were
present at levels of 30-1200 ng g-1, with a composition similar to Aroclor 5460. Kennicutt et al. (1995) also
analysed three sediment samples from Arthur Harbour, on the Antarctic Peninsula. These samples had total
PCB concentrations of 2.8-4.2 ng g-1, values similar to background concentrations at `clean' sites in the Ross
Sea.
3.2.2.1.4 Concentrations in precipitation, run-off and terrestrial water bodies
Tanabe et al. (1983) measured PCB concentrations in a range of samples, including lake water. Lake water and
seawater had similar concentrations, varying from 40-70 pg dm-3 total PCBs.
3.2.2.1.5 Concentrations in snow pack and land ice
Risebrough et al. (1976) measured total PCB concentration in snow collected from a deep pit in a permanent
snow-field on Doumer Island. Snow samples were collected during January-February 1975. PCB
concentrations also showed a peak value of 1.2 pg g-1 at 3.5-4 m depth, and ranged from 0.05-0.8 pg g-1
elsewhere in the profile. The snow profile is not dated, but this is a region of high snow accumulation, with
surface firn accumulation at about 1-2 m per year, so that the deepest snow in the present profile would be little
more than a decade before the sampling (David Peel pers comm). Tanabe et al. (1983) also measured
concentrations in snow. Inland snow samples, both deep and shallow, showed similar levels of total PCBs,
suggesting similar deposition rate at this site between the 1960s and 1980s. Overall concentrations in snow
samples were 0.2-1 pg g-1. Ice (type not specified) had total PCB concentrations of 0.3-0.6 pg g-1.
3.2.2.1.6 Temporal and spatial variability
There is a comparatively large amount of data for environmental levels of PCBs, and a dataset that
covers the same time-span as the information for DDT and HCH. However,. the data on air
concentrations of PCBs are too variable to establish any temporal trends. The large-scale geographic
trend seen in the study by Ockenden et al. (2001) suggests that air concentrations reflect extra-regional
28
output and that these concentrations will decrease with increasing latitude. Overall, it seems likely
that either air concentrations exhibits high spatial variability, or that there is no significant long-term
trend, comparable for instance to that seen in DDT. Data from two analyses of snow samples suggest
that there was probably only slight variability over the period 1960-80. Data on PCB concentrations
in sediments from `clean' sites are too few to provide information on temporal trends
3.2.3 Persistent Toxic Substances - Unintended by-products
3.2.3.1 Polychlorinated
dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs)
3.2.3.1.1 Concentrations in air
Lugar (1993) and Lugar et al. (1996) report the results of monitoring ambient air around McMurdo Station
during 1992-93 and 1993-94 austral summers. Measurements were made at sites clearly exposed to local
contamination. Measured concentrations of total PCDDs were 0.12-1.8 pg m-3 and PCDFs were <0.02-2.77 pg
m-3. These appear to be the only data for environmental levels of PCDDs and PCDFs, and the signal is clearly
dominated by local contamination. Taking the lowest recorded values, upper limits for background air
concentrations could be suggested as 0.12 pg m-3 for total PCDDs and 0.02 pg m-3 for PCDFs.
3.2.3.2 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
PAHs are probably the PTS which have been analysed most commonly in the region, especially in connection
with low-level contamination by long-term human activity in the region, alongside the occasional more serious
accidental release of fuel-oil (see Chapter 2).
3.2.3.2.1 Concentrations in air
Most studies refer to the marine environment, and there are few data on atmospheric loadings. Carrichia et al.
(1995) determined concentrations of particulate PAH in during austral summers 1990-91, 1991-92 and 1992-93
within 200 m of the Italian research station at Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea. Low air temperatures implied that
most PAH were in particulate rather than vapour phase, and the results suggested that local sources dominated.
Concentrations of individual compounds were low - 95% of the 11 compounds analysed were in the range 1-50
pg m-3. Overall, total PAH particulate concentrations in air were 15-700 pg m-3.
3.2.3.2.2 Concentrations in seawater and sea ice
There are several studies which report PAH in seawater (see review by Cripps, 1992b, for a summary of earlier
data). Cripps (1989, 1990a) found that total PAH in surface seawater at South Georgia varied from 0.05-1.19
µg dm-3, and he obtained similar data for a more geographically extensive study in the late 1980s (total PAH in
seawater 0.1-1.2 µg dm-3) with highest values close to derelict whaling stations at South Georgia, which are
identifiable sources of long-term PAH contamination (see also Platt & Mackie 1979, 1980). Cripps (1990a)
reviewed a short time-series of seawater data from the seas around South Georgia and suggested, on the basis
of four sampling efforts (1973-90), that local input dominated and there was no significant change over time.
There are also data for supposedly uncontaminated sites. Cripps (1994) found the mean value for total PAH in
surface seawater from the Bransfield Strait region to be 0.23 µg dm-3 (range <0.05-1.7 µg dm-3). Cripps
(1990b) reported a more localised study close to the Signy Research Station. Total PAH concentrations in
seawater varied from 0.11-0.22 µg dm-3. These data showed no trend with distance from the station, suggesting
that local contamination was not high enough to establish a concentration gradient in the well mixed coastal
waters. Similarly, Cripps (1992a,b) demonstrated that there is little recognizable temporal or spatial pattern in
total PAH levels in Southern Ocean samples from a range of locations (Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean,
Bransfield Strait, Weddell Sea and Ross Sea /Terra Nova Bay). The overall range of seawater concentrations in
the studies reviewed by Cripps (1992b) was undetectable-9.4 µg dm-3 total PAH.
29
Local fuel oil spillage can lead to dramatic but short-lived elevation in seawater PAH concentrations. Cripps &
Shears (1997) monitored an accidental spill of 1000 dm3 of diesel fuel at Faraday Station, Galindez Island,
Argentine Islands. Total PAH in seawater reached 222 µg dm-3 on the day after the spill, but returned to
`background' levels within one week.
3.2.3.2.3 Concentrations in marine sediments
Marine sediments offer a different view of PAH input to the Southern Ocean. Several authors have noted that
PAHs in these sediments does not appear to degrade significantly (Platt & Mackie 1979, 1980; Cripps 1990a;
Kennicutt et al. 1995) or to disperse (Kennicutt et al. 1995). Thus sediments preserve records of local PAH
input. Most seawater samples are indicative of much larger-scale inputs, and the signal of local PAH pollution
events appears only to last for a few days in seawater (e.g. Cripps & Shears 1997). Typically, many studies
have concentrated on known sources of continuous, low-level pollution or on the effects of transient events.
Many such studies use transects leading away from the source of pollution in order to define the spatial scale of
contamination, by identifying samples with putative baseline concentrations. In a few cases, the historical
record within dated sediment cores has also been used.
Not unexpectedly, there is a large volume of data for marine sediments in the vicinity of research stations.
Kennicutt et al. (1995) determined total PAH in sediments close to McMurdo in 1990-91 and 1992-93, where
levels ranged from undetectable to >6 000 ng g-1 (all values expressed on dry mass basis), with values up to 13
000 ng g-1 in Winter Quarters Bay. Predominance of napthalene and phenanthrene in highly contaminated
samples indicated that the main contribution came from spilt fuel. Pyrogenic PAH paralleled fuel PAH
concentrations, suggesting a common origin. Kennicutt et al. (1992a, 1995) report data from the vicinity of
Palmer Research Station on the Antarctic Peninsula, reflecting both the long-term, low-level input from
research stations in the Arthur Harbour area and the fuel spillage arising from a shipwreck (Kennicutt et al.
1991). Marine sediment collected along a series of transects radiating from the current station area had total
PAH nd 11 540 ng g-1, of which napthalenes nd 9 500 ng g-1, fluorenes nd 3700 ng g-1, and phenathrenes
nd 3700 ng g-1. Total PAH in marine sediment close to the old Palmer station was up to 60 000 ng g-1.
Kennicutt et al. (1991) provide a detailed description of the spatial extent and fate of PAH from the grounding
of the Bahia Paraiso January in 1989, when an estimated 600 000 dm3 of Diesel Fuel Arctic were released.
The spill dispersed rapidly in the high-activity environment. Time series of intertidal sediments show decline
in total PAH from 700-1700 ng g-1 in early February to about 500 ng g-1 in early March. Composition of PAHs
in sediment samples indicated complex sources, including fuel and other oils, weathered components, and
combustion products. Cripps (1990b) measured sediment total-PAH concentrations along a 3-km transect
seawards from Signy Research Station, South Orkney Islands. Total PAH concentrations in the surface
sediment decreased with increasing distance from the station, from 300 ng g-1 close to station to about 10 ng g-1
500 m away. Hydrocarbon pollution would have been associated with the station activities, including a small
spill in 1965.
Green et al. (1992) sampled around Davis Station, and found PAH in all environmental and biotic samples, but
at low levels (parts per trillion). Very high levels were recorded in basin sediments from Ellis Fjord (2240-
7270 ng g-1), in comparison with well mixed oxic sediments, suggesting long-term accumulation of PAH in
anoxic sediments. The PAH composition suggested that local input dominates, predominantly derived from
hydrocarbon fuels, rather than global sources of combustion products.
3.2.3.2.4 Concentrations in terrestrial soils and lake sediments
There are a few analyses of terrestrial environmental samples, again typically from close to research stations.
Kennicutt et al. (1992a) determined PAH in soil from contaminated areas around the old Palmer station, and
detected very high PAH contamination in one soil sample with a concentration of 345 000 ng g-1. Green &
Nichols (1995) found that PAHs were present throughout the environment around Davis station in both soils
and marine sediments - predominantly napthalenes, fluorenes and phenanthrenes. However, concentrations
were typically very low, and often close to limits of detection. Concentrations of individual PAHs only
exceeded 1 ng g-1 (dry mass) around the fuel depot and at the sewage outfall.
3.2.3.2.5 Summary of data
30
The information on environmental levels of PAHs is extensive, although many data relate to local sources
which are unrepresentative of the region as a whole. Baseline levels can be estimated for some environmental
media. Generally, uncontaminated seawater has PAH concentrations 1 µg dm-3. PAH concentrations in
marine sediments vary from undetectable to about 10 ng g-1. At sites of local contamination, corresponding
values can be much higher: >200 µg dm-3 (for short periods) in seawater and 60 000 ng g-1 in long-term
contaminated sediments. Levels in contaminated soils can be even higher than this, but again the extent of such
contamination is very limited.
There appears to be no temporal trend in the environmental loading of PAHs. This is expected, because PAH
output has a long history, and the introduction to PAH to the region is an irregular combination of global input,
low-level and long-term natural and anthropogenic sources, and catastrophic incidents.
3.2.4 Organometals
Input of organometals to the Antarctic environment probably derives from a complex combination of sources,
some of which may be considered `global' whilst others are local, predominantly low-level but long-term and
often widely dispersed. Studies of heavy metal concentrations in snow and ice cores provide records of natural
and anthropogenic changes in atmospheric loadings over varying timescales, but do not distinguish
orgaznometals from other forms. Boutron & Patterson (1986) measured lead concentration changes in an
Antarctic ice core spanning the Wisconsin-Holocene transition, and identified climatic and tectonic factors
determining atmospheric particulate lead loading. Vandal et al. (1993) provide similar information on
variations in mercury deposition to Antarctica over the past 34 000 years. Comparison of Greenland and
Antarctic cores reveals interhemispheric differences in atmospheric lead concentrations (Murozumi et al. 1969).
Shorter timescale studies have pinpointed the effects of local and global input of lead (Görlach & Boutron
1992; Wolff 1992; Suttie & Wolff 1993; Wolff & Peel 1994; Wolff et al.1994, 1999; Barbante et al. 1998).
3.2.4.1 Organotin compounds (OTs)
There are no data on the presence of organotin compounds in the Southern Ocean environment. It is quite
likely that these compounds will have been used to some extent as anti-fouling on ships working within the
Southern Ocean, but this would represent a very minor input. Such anti-fouling would not be applied within
the region.
3.2.4.2 Organomercury
compounds
Despite a moderately extensive literature on the occurrence of mercury in a range of environmental samples,
there are few studies which provide independent measurements of organo-mercury compounds. DeMora et al.
(1993) collected 196 air samples at Scott Base and Arrival Heights on Ross Island 1987-1989.
Dimethylmercury was typically about 10% of total gaseous mercury, with mean value for all three years of 0.04
ng m-3 (range nd-0.63 ng m-3).
3.2.5 Overall conclusions environmental levels and trends
Data have been presented for a subset of the suite of PTSs covered by the regional assessment. For those
pesticides where adequate data are available, environmental levels are typically low and time series reflect the
history of pesticide use outside the region. For chlordane, concentrations in air over the Southern Ocean in the
1990s were 0.04-0.9 pg m-3, decreasing from 2-8 pg m-3 in the early-mid 1980s. Data for atmospheric DDT
concentrations suggest a more dramatic decline. In 1995 the `background' atmospheric concentration of DDT
in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean appears to have been of the order of 0.1 pg m-3, whilst concentrations had
been as high as 100-200 pg m-3 in the early 1980s. Data from snow samples suggest that levels in the 1960s
and 1970s might have been even higher. By contrast, HCH does not appear to have decreased by such a large
amount. Air concentrations of -HCH of about 20 pg m-3 have been recorded as mean values from studies in
different parts of the region from the late 1980s through to the mid 1990s.
31
Whereas pesticides can be clearly identified as being extra-regional in origin, industrial compounds may be
released within the region (albeit at low levels). There is a comparatively large amount of data for
environmental levels of PCBs, and a dataset that covers the same time-span as the information for DDT and
HCH. However, data on air concentrations of PCBs are too variable to establish any temporal trends, and it
seems likely that either air concentrations exhibits high spatial variability, or that there is no significant long-
term trend, comparable for instance to that seen in DDT. Furthermore, data from two analyses of snow samples
suggest that there was probably only slight variability over the period 1960-80. Air concentrations for single
PCBs in the studies reported here were 0.02-17 pg m-3. Data on PCB concentrations in sediments from `clean'
sites are too few to provide information on temporal trends. Total PCB concentrations at such sites were in the
range 2.8-4.2 ng g-1, whereas samples from contaminated sites were 250-4300 ng g-1..
Data for `unintended by-products' are sparse, with the exception of PAHs. For dioxins and furans, upper limits
for background air concentrations could be suggested as 0.12 pg m-3 for total PCDDs and were 0.02 pg m-3
for PCDFs. Sources of PAHs are complex, involving local and global sources. Baseline levels can be
estimated for some environmental media. Generally, uncontaminated seawater has PAH concentrations 1 µg
dm-3. PAH concentrations in marine sediments vary from undetectable to about 10 ng g-1. At sites of local
contamination, corresponding values can be much higher: >200 µg dm-3 (for short periods) in seawater and
60 000 ng g-1 in long-term contaminated sediments. Levels in contaminated soils can be even higher than this,
but again the extent of such contamination is very limited.
3.3 LEVELS AND TRENDS BIOTA
Data on PTS loadings in Antarctic biota are often patchy, and typically result from one-off studies rather than
systematic monitoring effort. The terrestrial ecosystem is poorly developed, and there are no large plants or
animals. Most data for terrestrial biota are derived from analysis of lichens and bryophytes (e.g. Bacci et al.
1986). It is likely that the processes by which pollutants reach these organisms and accumulate are complex,
and will vary from one PTS to another and from one site to another. Many study sites will be at coastal and
island sites, where many research stations are located and where ecosystem development is maximal. The
presence of some pollutants, such as PAH and organometals, will undoubtedly often include a significant local
component associated with long-term human habitation close to the site. The presence of land-breeding marine
birds and mammals will also provide a strong linkage between the terrestrial community and the marine
ecosystem at coastal locations. It should also be noted that most of the terrestrial vegetation is very slow-
growing, and that biomass often accumulates in the absence of significant grazing and slow microbial
breakdown. Thus vegetation samples used for PTS analysis may represent decades of accumulation.
The marine ecosystem provides very different conditions in the context of measurements of PTSs in biota. In
the pelagic system, vegetation comprises microscopic phytoplankton with very short turnover times.
Zooplankton, however, tend to be large and often long-lived. Predators include cephalopods, fish, birds and
mammals. With the exception of cephalopods, these predators are typically long-lived. Many species of birds
and mammals migrate to lower latitudes, or even into the high-latitude northern hemisphere, in the austral
winter, so that their pollutant loading will integrate input from both outside and within the region in the case of
PTS with long turnover times. Even at lower levels in the food web, the mobility of pelagic organisms means
that they will integrate environmental PTS loading over large spatial and temporal scales. The pelagic
ecosystem is dominated by short food chains which transfer primary production to top predators with relatively
high efficiency (Priddle et al. 1998). This would tend to reduce the amplification of pollutant loadings resulting
from biomagnification in more complex food webs. However, Van den Brink (1997) points out that cold-
condensation implies that polar regions will be a sink for the most volatile pollutants, and that these may then
be present at higher environmental levels than at lower latitudes. On this basis, animals occupying a specific
trophic niche in a polar ecosystem may have higher PTS loading than the corresponding species in a temperate
or tropical ecosystem.
Benthic marine organisms have also been sampled for a range of PTS. Their restricted mobility and contact
with substrate makes them more useful as monitors of local pollution. However, again organisms tend to be
slow-growing and long-lived, so that some pollutants will tend to be accumulated over long periods of time.
32
Feeding and growth exhibit strong seasonal patterns, implying that capacity for uptake of PTS by benthic
animals will vary through the year. Interpretation of PTS loading in known-age individuals can be complex
(Cripps & Priddle 1995).
There are no data on PTS loadings in humans living in the region. As noted already, there are no indigenous
peoples, and those persons present in the region typically spend no more than a few months to a year there.
Reporting units vary widely in the published data. Here, the only alterations to values have been to bring them
to common concentration units. The tissue basis of the measurement (ie fresh mass, dry mass, total lipid, or a
particular organ) have been stated where these are clear from the original published source, but there has been
attempt to inter convert values (eg bring all data to a whole organism dry mass or total lipid basis). Where no
tissue basis has been given, concentration per unit of fresh mass of whole organism or tissue has been assumed.
The level of comparability of different values is indicated where possible. Full `scientific' binomial names and
accepted English language equivalents are given in Appendix 3.
3.3.1 Persistent Toxic Substances Pesticides
No pesticides are manufactured or applied in the region, and all input comes from extra-regional sources.
3.3.1.1 Aldrin and Dieldrin
3.3.1.1.1 Marine
ecosystem
There are only a few reports of dieldrin concentrations in biota, and these are widely separated in space and
time. Joiris & Overloop (1989, 1991) and Joiris & Holsbeek (1992) found consistent levels of dieldrin of 9 ng
g-1 DM in particulate material (predominantly phytoplankton) sampled from the Indian Ocean sector and the
southwest Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean between 1987-89. Joiris & Overloop (1989, 1991) note that
aldrin was undetectable in the same samples.
Remaining data come mainly from samples from birds and mammals. Tatton & Ruzicka (1967) analysed
samples of marine animals from Signy Island, collected in the mid-1960s. Penguin, seabird, fish and krill
tissues were taken remote from the small research station. Measured levels of dieldrin ranged from not
detectable-9 ng g-1. Donnewald et al. (1979) measured levels of PTSs in penguin subcutaneous fat at Paradise
Bay, northern Antarctic Peninsula, in January-February 1973. Concentrations of dieldrin were 11-62 ng g-1 fat.
Schneider et al. (1985) measured dieldrin in adipose tissue from seals and birds collected along the ice shelf in
the Weddell Sea in austral summer 1980-81. Overall levels were low, although high levels of dieldrin were
recorded in Emperor penguins (up to 127 ng g-1 lipid mass) because birds were starving. Dieldrin was
undetectable in all crabeater and Weddell seal samples. Gardner et al. (1985) analysed eggs from a total of 24
species of seabirds sampled at Marion and Gough Islands and islands off the South African coast. Lowest
levels were found in birds at Marion Island. The range of dieldrin concentrations was 0.1-15.9 ng g-1. Highest
levels were found in Antarctic skua and wandering albatross. Finally, Van den Brink (1997) gives data on
dieldrin concentrations in various tissues from Adelie penguins collected in 1991-92. Concentrations in
subcutaneous fat ranged from not-detectable 40 ng g-1 lipid mass.
3.3.1.1.2 Summary
If these samples can be treated as comparable, they suggest that there has been a gradual increase in dieldrin
levels in birds, although levels remain low compared with the loadings of some other pesticides. However, a
trend based on such few samples must be treated with considerable caution. There are too few data on
organisms other than birds and mammals to indicate whether dieldrin concentrations differ significantly
between different trophic levels in the marine food web.
33
3.3.1.2 Endrin
3.3.1.2.1 Marine
ecosystem
Donnewald et al. (1979) measured endrin concentrations of 20-90 ng g-1 fat in 30 samples of subcutaneous fat
from gentoo penguin, at Paradise Bay, Antarctic Peninsula, in January-February 1973. This appears to be the
only published record for this PTS in biota in the region.
3.3.1.3 Chlordane
3.3.1.3.1 Marine
ecosystem
Data for chlordane are patchy, and will not support any description of temporal or spatial variability. Kennicutt
et al (1995) determined chlordane compounds in benthic biota sampled at McMurdo 1990-91 and 1992-93
Compounds identified include alpha-chlordane and trans- and cis-nonachlor. Weber & Goerke (1996) analysed
tissues from various species of fish, especially Chaenocephalus aceratus, Chamsocephalus gunnari and
Gobionotothen gibberifrons collected between 1987 and 1991. Concentrations were similar in liver and
adipose tissue for all species, and tissue concentrations were not related to body size.. Concentrations of trans-
nonachlor 0.5-6 ng g 1 extractable organic matter. Luckas et al. (1990) noted that Weddell seal blubber
showed high levels of trans-nonachlor. Van den Brink (1997) could not detect trans-nonachlor in fat samples
from Adelie penguins, but found mean levels of 51 and 168 ng g 1 lipid in Cape petrels and Southern fulmars
respectively. This again suggests that those species which range widely accumulate much of their PTS burden
outside the region, and will exhibit higher levels.
3.3.1.4 Heptachlor and derivatives
3.3.1.4.1 Marine
ecosystem
Tatton & Ruzicka (1967) collected various samples of marine biota from Signy in the mid-1960s, remote from
the small research station. Samples included tissues from penguin, seabirds, fish and krill. Measured levels of
heptachlor epoxide (metabolite of heptachlor) ranged from not detectable-730 ng g 1, with the highest levels in
skua fat. Joiris & Overloop (1989, 1991) and Joiris & Holsbeek (1992) measured an average heptachlor
epoxide concentration of 27 ng g-1 DM in particulate material (predominantly phytoplankton) sampled from the
Indian Ocean sector and the southwest Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean between 1987-89. Heptachlor
itself was undetectable in the same samples.
These few data do not allow any generalisation about the occurrence of heptachlor and its derivatives in
Antarctic marine biota, except to note the likely predominance of the metabolite heptachlor epoxide over the
parent compound, which would be expected on the basis of the extra-regional origin of the PTS.
34
3.3.1.5 Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane
(DDT)
The detection of DDT and its derivatives in marine biota from the early 1960s onwards was a powerful
demonstration of the pervasiveness of global pollution by this class of PTS (Sladen et al. 1963; George & Frear
1966; Tatton & Ruzicka 1967; Conroy & French 1974 see also review by Hidaka, & Tatsukawa 1981). This
long and relatively comprehensive data series means that there is probably better information for DDT and its
derivatives than for any other class of PTS.
3.3.1.5.1 Terrestrial
ecosystem
There is only one set of data for the terrestrial biota. Bacci et al. (1986) analysed a suite of lichen and moss
samples collected in 1985 from Port Lockroy, Galindez Island and Rothera Point. Concentrations of p,p' DDE
varied from 0.1-0.6 ng g 1, and p,p' DDT was 0.08-0.9 ng g 1. These plants could have accumulated their
PTS loading over a long period, and the routes by which they received DDT could have included atmospheric
deposition, marine aerosol (sites are close to the coast) and perhaps bio-transport.
3.3.1.5.2 Marine ecosystem - plankton
There are data for several trophic levels in the more complex marine ecosystem. Lukowski & Ligowski (1987)
sampled plankton diatoms in 1983-84 in Admiralty Bay, King George Island and from around South Orkney
Islands. Concentrations of p,p' DDE ranged from not detectable-14.0 ng g-1 (fresh mass). Highest levels were
found in Admiralty Bay samples. Joiris & Overloop (1989, 1991) found that p,p' DDE and p,p' DDT were
undetectable in bulk phytoplankton samples collected over a wide area of the Southern Ocean in 1987-89.
Lukowski (1978a) analysed p,p' DDE, p,p' DDD and p,p' DDT in samples of krill from Drake Passage,
Bransfield Strait and Scotia Sea February-March 1976. Measurements were made on homogenised whole
animals, and total DDT was 20-65 ng g-1 (fresh mass). Variability was linked to age of animals in individual
samples and to geographic location. Higher DDT proportion (i.e. non metabolised) and higher levels in the
west of the sampling area suggests that this region experienced higher environmental loading. A second study
also includes data for Antarctic krill, collected at about the same time at the Antarctic Peninsula. Risebrough et
al. (1976) present data for a single sample of krill collected in October 1975. This contained p,p' DDE 14 ng
g-1 lipid mass, p,p' DDT 19 ng g-1 lipid mass, which is broadly comparable with the data of Lukowski (1978a).
The ratio of p.p' DDE to p,p' DDT in these studies indicates that a high proportion of unmetabolised DDT
entered the ecosystem at this time.
3.3.1.5.3 Marine ecosystem - fish
Five studies provide data on DDT loadings in fish. Monod et al. (1992) found that DDT was very low or not
detectable in fish sampled at Îles Kerguelen in 1971 and 1975. Subramanian et al. (1983) sampled Pagothenia
bernachii in the vicinity of Syowa Research Station in the early 1980s. Whole fish concentrations of total DDT
averaged 0.7 ng g-1 fresh mass. Their data suggested that DDT continued to accumulate over the fishes'
lifetime. Larsson et al. (1992) measured levels of DDT in the liver of Pagothenia bernachii sampled at Ross
Island. The mean concentration of DDT was 10 ng g-1 fat weight. Weber & Goerke (1996) sampled various
species of fish off the Antarctic Peninsula between 1987 and 1991, especially Chaenocephalus aceratus,
Chamsocephalus gunnari and Gobionotothen gibberifrons. Concentrations of p.p' DDE were 2-40 ng g 1
EOM (extractable organic matter) and were one to two orders of magnitude lower than in North Sea fish.
Concentrations were similar in liver and adipose tissue for all species, and concentrations were not related to
body size (in contrast to the conclusions of Subramanian et al. 1983).
Focardi et al. (1992) present data for a range of fish species, but mainly Chionodraco hamatus and Pagothenia
bernacchii, sampled in 1987-88 and 1989-90. Concentrations in liver were about ten times the levels in
muscle, and ranged from 25.0 (range 17.2-31.9) to 52.7 (23.5-75.6) ng g-1 DM for p.p' DDE in the two species,
and 14.6 (8.5-21.0) to 8.1 (5.3-15.3) ng g-1 DM for p.p' DDT. Data in the different studies are presented on
different tissue and mass bases. Despite this, it appears that DDT levels in Antarctic fish increased over the
35
period from the mid 1960s to the late 1980s, although they remain low compared with polluted sites elsewhere.
Where data on the ratio of p,p' DDE to p.p' 'DDT are available, they appear to be similar to data for krill.
3.3.1.5.4 Marine ecosystem birds and mammals
Analyses of DDT and derivatives in various tissues from marine birds and mammals provide the largest body
of data, although there is considerable inter-species variability potentially masking temporal and spatial trends.
The samples from the 1960s and early 1970s comprise tissue samples from seals, penguins and seabirds
(Sladen et al. 1963; George & Frear 1966; Tatton & Ruzicka 1967; Conroy & French 1974). Many of these
studies detected DDT in only some of the animals sampled. Tatton & Ruzicka (1967) analysed samples from
Signy Island, remote from the small research station, collected in mid 1960s. For a diverse range of samples,
measured levels of p.p' DDE ranged from 1-26 000 ng g-1 fresh mass, p.p' TDE from not detectable-18 ng g-1,
p.p' DDT from1-2500 ppm. Subcutaneous fat in skuas had the highest levels, which is consistent both with its
extensive dispersal outside the breeding season and its carrion diet.
Conroy & French (1974) found no DDT or DDE in Emperor penguins from the Weddell Sea (collected in
1971) but found that p,p' DDE in giant petrels from Signy Island (1968-69) increased with age. Liver
concentration of p,p' DDE in giant petrels ranged from 20 ng g-1 (fresh mass) at 80 days age to 30 ng g-1 (fresh
mass) at 5-15+ years old. There was no p,p' DDT except in one sample. It seemed likely that the giant petrels
accumulated most of their pollutant load outside the Antarctic. Monod et al. (1992) found that DDE present
was in all birds sampled at Îles Kerguelen in 1971 and 1975, but DDD and DDT were present only in penguins
and albatross. Risebrough et al. (1976) collected data for three pygoscelid penguin species at the Antarctic
Peninsula from January 1970-January 1975. Concentrations of p,p' DDE ranged from 66-380 ng g-1 lipid mass
with no evidence for significant interspecies or temporal variation. Donnewald et al. (1979) measured average
levels of DDT and related compounds in penguins at the northern part of the Antarctic Peninsula in 1973.
Concentrations were p.p' DDE: nd-460 ng g-1 fat, p,p' DDT : nd-87 ng g-1 fat, and p,p' DDD: <10 ng g-1 fat.
Note that in this range of samples from the 1960s to 1970s, the ratio of p,p' DDE to p,p''DDT is high, with
DDT being undetectable in some samples and the ratio in others being 5-10.
Lukowski (1983a,b) measured levels of DDT and derivatives in penguins and seabirds at Admiralty Bay (King
George Island, South Shetland Islands) in the late 1970s. In adult penguins p,p' DDE and trace amounts of p,p'
DDT were found, but p,p' DDE only in the eggs. There was no significant difference between species.
Penguin fat concentrations of p,p' DDE plus p,p' DDT ranged from 340-550 ng g-1 (fresh mass). In flighted
seabirds, p,p' DDE predominated, reaching levels of 400-8 000 ng g-1 (fresh mass) in fat tissue. Oceanites
oceanicus (storm petrel) had the highest levels, and is the species with the most wide-ranging migration outside
breeding season. It may also accumulate DDT residues by scavenging on fat from carcasses. The author
suggests that the low level of DDT relative to DDE in these samples indicates little input of `new' DDT,
coupled with the persistence of DDE.
Schneider et al. (1985) sampled adipose tissue from a range of seals and birds collected along the ice shelf in
the Weddell Sea in austral summer 1980-81. Overall ranges were p,p' DDE 46-3370 ng g-1 lipid mass, p.p'
DDT 7-953 ng g-1 lipid mass. Levels are still relatively low in these samples, and p,p' DDE continued to be
found at higher levels than p,p' DDT. The highest levels were found in south polar skuas, which migrate out of
the region. Karolewski et al. (1987) also analysed adipose tissue from five Antarctic seal species (collected at
King George Island 1979-1981). Highest overall level was in leopard seal - p,p' DDT 158-164 ng g-1 (fresh
mass), p,p' DDE 267-456 ng g-1 (fresh mass). DDT was undetectable in elephant, Weddell, crabeater and fur
seals. Concentrations of p,p' DDE varied from species to species, from 5-36 ng g-1 (fresh mass) in crabeater
seal to 54-69 ng g-1 (fresh mass) in Weddell seal. Contrasts between species reflect feeding ecology. The
leopard seal is an apex predator feeding mainly on penguins and other seals, the Weddell seal feeds on fish and
squid, whilst the crabeater seal feeds on krill.
Luke et al. (1989) provide a comprehensive picture of DDT loadings in Antarctic seabirds, based on analyses of
eggs from 15 species of seabirds at Davis and Casey stations (1981-83) on the coast of Eastern Antarctica, and
from Macquarie Island (1978-83). DDE concentrations varied markedly Adelie and Emperor penguins from
Davis showed very low levels of 4 and 10 ng g-1 fresh mass respectively, whilst Gentoo, Royal and Rockhopper
penguins from Macquarie were 40, 40 and 20 ng g-1 fresh mass respectively. Differences relate both to
36
geography and diet. Data for flighted birds - petrels, albatross and skua - were more variable, and can also be
related to range and diet. Petrels breeding near Davis have limited dispersal and had p,p' DDE levels 10-20 ng
g-1 fresh mass (similar to Davis penguins). By contrast, birds such as storm petrels and giant petrels which
spend much of their life outside the Southern Ocean had higher levels Wilson's storm petrel from Davis and
Casey had p.p' DDE 60-1800 ng g-1 fresh mass, giant petrels from Macquarie p,p' DDE 170-1530 ng g-1 fresh
mass (the northern race having higher loadings than the southern race). There was apparently consistent
increase in p,p' DDE levels in giant petrel eggs over the period of sampling southern race 360 ng g-1 fresh
mass in1978, 430 in 1979 and 620 in1983, and northern race 810 ng g-1 fresh mass in 1979 and 950 in 1983.
Gardner et al. (1985) also measured DDT in eggs from 24 species of seabirds sampled at Marion and Gough
Islands and islands off the South African coast. Lowest levels were found in birds at Marion Island.
Concentrations of p,p' DDE ranged from 9-589 ng g-1, and p,p' DDT from 2-70 ng g-1. Highest levels were
found in Antarctic skua and wandering albatross. Subramanian et al. (1986) recorded p,p' DDE concentrations
of 119-804 ng g-1 lipid mass in Adelie penguins collected in 1981 close to Syowa Research Station.
Total DDT in lipid in endemic birds and mammals
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
Year
Figure 3-3. Time series of concentration of total DDT in lipid in endemic marine birds and mammals sampled
in Antarctica from 1965-95. Data sources are cited in the text.
Van den Brink (1997) analysed DDT and derivatives in Cape petrels from King George Island, sampled in
1991 (about a decade after the study of Lukowski, 1983b, in the same area). These later data from a range of
tissues showed mean level of total DDT 3000 ng g-1 (lipid mass). These data appear to indicate little reduction
in DDT loadings to seabirds between the late 1970s and the early 1990s. Van den Brink's data on Adelie
penguins can be compared to data from Tatton & Ruzicka (1967), Conroy & French (1974) and Lukowski
(1983a), although the samples are more widely spread. Van den Brink's data indicate mean tissue
concentrations of about 300 ng g-1 (lipid mass), which is higher than the earliest data for penguins but
comparable to data from the late 1970s.
Finally, there is also a small dataset for seal tissue which can be compared with the earliest records from the
region. Luckas et al. (1990) examined samples of seal blubber from various locations, including four Weddell
seals collected in the Weddell Sea. Mean levels were p,p' DDE 67 ng g-1 blubber fresh mass, p,p' DDD 4 ng g-
37
1 blubber fresh mass, p,p' DDT 35 ng g-1 blubber fresh mass. These levels appear to be slightly higher than
data for animals collected in the 1960s.
38
3.3.1.5.5 Summary trends in DDT levels in the marine ecosystem
Overall, data for birds and mammals endemic to the region suggest that levels of DDT and derivatives
increased over the period from the early 1960s to the early 1980s (Figure 3-3). Since the mid-1980s, levels
appear to have fallen slightly, but less so than might be expected from regional and global environmental data
(Bidleman et al.1993, and Tatsukawa et al.1990 respectively). It is difficult to assess whether the ratio of DDE
to DDT concentrations has changed significantly over the same period, against a background of inter-species
and other sources of variability. Many of the first measurements provide only a crude estimate of the
DDE:DDT ratio, because of a combination of low levels as the pesticide spread into the region, and poor
analytical resolution. It is clear that DDE has always predominated in biota, even though Bidleman et al (1993)
suggested that significant input of fresh DDT was still evident in environmental samples collected in 1990. For
data from biota reviewed here, DDE:DDT varied widely, and it is not easy to construct a temporal pattern. The
1960s data of Tatton & Ruzicka (1967) suggest that DDE:DDT ratio was about 10, even taking into account
species ranging outside the region. Commenting on data from the late 1970s, Lukowski (1983a,b) pointed out
that the high DDE:DDT ratio indicated that little new DDT was represented in biotic loadings. The extensive
study by Gardner et al. (1989) in the early 1980s also suggests a DDE:DDT ratio of 10, although data on high-
latitude seals from Luckas et al. (1990) gave a DDE:DDT ratio of 2. Data from most recent samples of
endemic penguins, (Van den Brink 1997) suggests that DDE:DDT ratio may have risen to 20. Taken together,
these data are indicative of the persistence of DDE in the biota and environment, despite a significant fall in the
input of `new' DDT and DDE from outside the region.
For the marine ecosystem as a whole, it is clear that DDT and its derivatives are persistent, despite significantly
reduced input to the region over the course of the period of sampling (mid 1960s to early 1990s). There do not
appear to be major differences in tissue loadings between different levels in the marine ecosystem, when only
those top predators which are endemic to the region are considered (Figure 3-4). This may reflect the short
food chains typical of the Southern Ocean pelagic ecosystem.
Figure 3-4. Concentration of total DDT in lipid at various levels of the Antarctic marine food web. Levels in
top predators such as birds and mammals are highly variable, but significant bioaccumulation of DDT at the top
of the food web does not appear to be taking place. Data combined from sources cited in the text
39
3.3.1.6 Toxaphene (Polychlorobornanes and camphenes)
3.3.1.6.1 Marine
ecosystem
High levels of toxaphene were found in blubber of Weddell seals from the Weddell Sea by Luckas et al. (1990).
This appears to be the only published record. The presence of toxaphene in animals which typically had low
levels of other PTSs (such as HCB, HCH, DDT) may indicate that toxaphene contamination in the Antarctic
marine ecosystem is widespread. However, it is hard to imagine that the many other studies of top predators in
the region would have failed to detect the compound.
3.3.1.7 Mirex
3.3.1.7.1 Marine
ecosystem
There is little information on levels of mirex and its degradation product photomirex in Antarctic biota. Weber
& Goerke (1996) claim the first record. They present data for various species of fish collected between 1987
and 1991off the Antarctic Peninsula, especially Chaenocephalus aceratus, Chamsocephalus gunnari and
Gobionotothen gibberifrons. Concentrations were similar in liver and adipose tissue for all species, and
concentrations were not related to body size. Concentrations of mirex were 0.5-12.5 ng g 1 extractable
organic matter. Van den Brink (1997) analysed subcutaneous fat from three species of seabird. Adelie
penguins had an average mirex concentration of 82 ng g 1 fat, and photomirex 12 ng g 1 fat (although the
author suggests that photomirex concentrations were probably overestimated). Levels were higher for two
species of flighted seabirds which have greater dispersal. Cape petrels had an average mirex concentration of
2328 ng g 1 fat, and photomirex 508 ng g 1 fat, and Southern fulmars had an average mirex concentration of
29 600 ng g 1 fat, and photomirex 4 700 ng g 1 fat. These last data suggest that top predators feeding outside
the region may accumulate high mirex burdens, whilst fish and endemic avian predators have lower loadings,
of the order of .100 ng g 1 fat for endemic birds. The paucity of data precludes any statement on spatial or
temporal variability.
3.3.1.8 Hexachlorobenzene
(HCB)
3.3.1.8.1 Terrestrial
ecosystem
Bacci et al. (1986) measured HCB concentrations of 0.30-2.16 ng g 1 dry mass in lichen and moss samples
collected 1985 from Port Lockroy, Galindez Island and Rothera Point. This appears to be the sole record for
the terrestrial ecosystem.
3.3.1.8.2 Marine ecosystem - plankton
Data for the more complex marine ecosystem cover a range of trophic levels. Lukowski & Ligowski (1987)
sampled plankton diatoms in 1983-84 in Admiralty Bay, King George Island and from around South Orkney
Islands. HCB was present only at trace concentrations or was undetectable.
3.3.1.8.3 Marine ecosystem - fish
Weber & Goerke (1996) sampled various species of fish off the Antarctic Peninsula, especially
Chaenocephalus aceratus, Chamsocephalus gunnari and Gobionotothen gibberifrons between 1987 and 1991.
Concentrations of HCB were about 20 ng g 1 EOM (extractable organic matter), similar to levels found in
North Sea fish and interpreted as result of cold condensation increasing environmental levels. Focardi et al.
(1992) present data for other fish species sampled in the Ross Sea region in 1987-90. Most data refer to two
species, Chionodraco hamatus and Pagothenia bernacchii, and HCB concentrations in the liver were 8.4 (range
5.0-12.2) ng g-1 DM and 3.4 (1.2-6.5) ng g-1 DM respectively. Allowing for the fact that data from the two
40
studies are expressed on different tissue bases (EOM and tissue dry mass respectively), their results are broadly
similar.
3.3.1.8.4 Marine ecosystem birds and mammals
Birds and mammals are important top predators in the marine ecosystem, and five studies summarise the data
on HCB levels in these animals. The earliest data are for penguins sampled at the Antarctic Peninsula in 1973.
Donnewald et al. (1979) found HCB concentrations in subcutaneous fat ranging from 87-600 ng g-1 fat. Luke
et al. (1989) analysed eggs from 15 species of seabirds at Davis and Casey stations (1981-83) on the coast of
Eastern Antarctica, and from Macquarie Island (1978-83). Levels of HCB were similar in all penguin eggs (10-
20 ng g-1 fresh mass). Petrels, albatross and skua data were more variable, and this variability can be related to
range and diet. Petrels breeding near Davis have limited dispersal and had HCB levels similar to Macquarie
penguins (mean 40 ng g-1 fresh mass). By contrast, birds such as storm petrels and giant petrels, which spend
much of their life outside the Southern Ocean had higher levels Wilson's storm petrel from Davis and Casey
had HCB 50-180 ng g-1 fresh mass, giant petrels from Macquarie HCB 50-260 ng g-1 fresh mass (the northern
race having higher loadings than the southern race).
Van den Brink (1997) analysed HCB in uropygial gland oil in birds from the Antarctic, sub-Antarctic and
Europe. Antarctic and sub-Antarctic birds showed higher levels of HCB than those found in European samples.
Adelie penguin and petrels were sampled at Hop Island in February 1994, and Antarctic petrels from King
George Island. HCB varied from 268-2253 ng g-1 lipid mass. Schneider et al. (1985) present data for adipose
tissue from seals and seabirds collected along the ice shelf in the Weddell Sea in austral summer 1980-81.
Overall range of HCB concentrations was 42-1330 ng g-1 lipid mass. Luckas et al. (1990) determined HCB
concentration in samples of blubber from four Weddell seals collected in the Weddell Sea. Mean level was 4
ng g-1 blubber fresh mass.
Figure 3-5. Concentration of HCB in lipid at various levels of the Antarctic marine food web. Levels in top
predators such as birds and mammals are highly variable, but significant bioaccumulation of HCB at the top of
the food web does not appear to be taking place. Data combined from sources cited in the text.
41
3.3.1.8.5 Summary
The data presented here are too patchy to define spatial or temporal trends. Levels in terrestrial plants may be
very low, and interestingly HCB could not be detected in marine phytoplankton. HCB has been detected in
fish, birds and mammals, but tissue loadings are highly variable. High levels in some bird species may
indicate that most of the pollution load is accumulated outside the region (e.g. Luke et al. 1989). Certainly, low
levels in endemic species such as some penguins (Luke et al. 1989) and Weddell seals (Luckas et al. 1990)
suggest that this is the case.
3.3.1.9 Hexachlorocyclohexanes
(HCH)
3.3.1.9.1 Terrestrial
ecosystem
Bacci et al. (1986) provide the only data for the terrestrial ecosystem. They analysed lichen and moss samples
collected 1985 from Port Lockroy, Galindez Island and Rothera Point. Concentrations of -HCH were 0.2-
1.15 ng g-1 dry mass, and -HCH 0.4-1.7 ng g-1 dry mass. The authors speculate that the predominance of -
HCH indicates pollution by what were then newer forms of the insecticide. However, these plants are often
very long-lived and will accumulate their pollution loading over decades.
3.3.1.9.2 Marine ecosystem - plankton
Lukowski & Ligowski (1987) sampled plankton diatoms in 1983-84 in Admiralty Bay, King George Island and
from around South Orkney Islands. Concentrations were -HCH 0.3-8.0 ng g-1 (fresh mass), -HCH not
detectable, and -HCH 0.7-26.0 ng g-1 (fresh mass). Highest levels were in the Admiralty Bay samples,
collected closer to land than other samples. The authors speculate that glacial melt may release HCH and other
compounds stored in snow, acting as a `delay loop' between the time of local deposition in snowfall and
subsequent release to the marine environment. In this case, the compounds released at the time of sampling
may have originated at the time of maximum pesticide use. Joiris & Overloop (1989, 1991) and Joiris and
Holsbeek (1992) found broadly similar levels in bulk samples of particulate matter (phytoplankton) from
several parts of the Southern Ocean. Their average value for lindane concentration in these samples was 19 ng
g-1 DM. Comparing these data with the `fresh-mass' data of Lukowski & Ligowski (1987) suggests that the
values of Joiris and co-workers are representative of uncontaminated open ocean systems, and that higher HCH
concentrations characterise coastal ecosystems with contamination by terrestrial run-off.
3.3.1.9.3 Marine ecosystem - fish
Larsson et al. (1992) measured an average lindane concentration of 30 ng g-1 fat weight in the liver of the fish
Pagothenia bernachii.
3.3.1.9.4 Marine ecosystem birds and mammals
Three studies report HCH concentrations in birds and seals, which are important top predators in the marine
ecosystem. Schneider et al.(1985) analysed adipose tissue from seals and seabirds collected along the ice shelf
in the Weddell Sea in austral summer 1980-81. Overall range of lindane (-HCH) concentrations was 17-103
ng g-1 lipid mass. Karolewski et al. (1987) sampled adipose tissue from five Antarctic seal species, collected at
King George Island (1979-1981). Highest overall levels were in leopard seal, an apex predator which will
disperse widely in the Antarctic winter, with total HCH 24-26 ng g-1 (fresh mass). For other species, total
HCH varied from 8 ng g-1 (fresh mass) in elephant seal to 18 ng g-1 (fresh mass) in fur seal. Contrasts between
species reflect feeding ecology and dispersal. Luckas et al. (1990) included data for Weddell seals in their
analysis of pinniped PTS loadings. Mean levels were -HCH 0.4 ng g-1 blubber fresh mass, -HCH 0.3 ng g-1
blubber fresh mass.
42
3.3.1.9.5 Summary
There are no local sources of HCH, so the relatively low levels seen in marine and terrestrial biota represent
extra-regional input. Concentrations in marine biota appear to be similar, irrespective of trophic level indeed
concentrations in endemic seals appear to be lower in some cases than in fish or phytoplankton. The
predominance of -HCH agrees with the dominance of this compound in environmental samples. The small
number of studies, and the natural variability within and between samples, precludes any statement on the
temporal trends in HCH contamination of biota.
Figure 3-6. Concentration of -HCH in lipid at various levels of the Antarctic marine food web. Data
combined from sources cited in the text.
3.3.2 Persistent Toxic Substances - Industrial Compounds
3.3.2.1 Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
3.3.2.1.1 Terrestrial
ecosystem
Bacci et al. (1986) analysed a suite of lichen and moss samples collected in 1985 from Port Lockroy, Galindez
Island and Rothera Point. Concentrations of total PCBs were <5 [detection limit]-16 ng g-1 dry mass (DM).
These plants, which are slow-growing and long-lived, would have received their PCB input over a long period
from atmospheric deposition and marine aerosol.
3.3.2.1.2 Marine ecosystem - plankton
For the marine ecosystem, there are data for phytoplankton from a series of bulk samples of particulate material
over a large area of the Southern Ocean in 1987-89 (Joiris & Overloop 1989, 1991, Joiris & Holsbeek 1992).
Total PCB concentrations measured in these samples were up to 750 ng g-1 dry mass.
Several studies report PCB levels in invertebrates and fish, which will accumulate their entire PCB loading
within the region and will probably be sensitive to local inputs. Many data for invertebrates refer to benthic
taxa, but there is a single record for krill, a dominant component of the pelagic ecosystem. Risebrough et al.
43
(1976) analysed a single sample of krill collected in October 1975 at the Antarctic Peninsula. These animals
contained total PCBs at a concentration of 3 ng g-1 lipid mass.
3.3.2.1.3 Marine ecosystem - fish
Larsson et al. (1992) analysed the fish Pagothenia bernachii and found total PCBs in the liver 70 ng g-1 fat
weight. Subramanian et al. (1983) also studied Pagothenia bernachii their analysis of whole fish gave total
PCB concentration of 0.17 ng g-1 fresh mass. Monod et al. (1992) analysed various marine biota around the
research station on Îles Kerguelen. Fish showed levels of total PCB 70-280 ng g-1, close to the station, but
significantly lower offshore.
Weber & Goerke (1996) analysed various species of fish in the Antarctic Peninsula region, especially
Chaenocephalus aceratus, Chamsocephalus gunnari and Gobionotothen gibberifrons collected between 1987
and 1991. Concentrations were similar in liver and adipose tissue for all species, and concentrations were not
related to body size. Concentrations of individual compounds were measured: PCB-153 0.5-7.4 ng g 1 EOM
(extractable organic matter), PCB-138 0.2-2.5 ng g 1 EOM, and PCB-180 <0.1-4 ng g 1 EOM. Comparison
of levels for 1987 and 1991 suggested that loadings of PCBs increased during this time, despite decreased
production and use at lower latitudes. They concluded that increasing Antarctic levels reflected global re-
distribution.
3.3.2.1.4 Marine ecosystem birds and mammals
There is a comparatively large body of data on PCB concentrations in tissues of birds and mammals, which are
dominant members of the Antarctic marine ecosystem. These animals provide data which compare PCB levels
with similar top predators in the Arctic and elsewhere (e.g. Ballschmitter et al. 1981; Luckas et al 1990; Oehme
et al. 1995; Van den Brink 1997) but the data are highly variable. Different species have differing body mass
and lifespans, and may sometimes be sampled in extreme physiological states which could affect tissue
concentrations. They occupy different trophic levels in the food web, and may be endemic to the region or may
disperse widely outside the breeding season. All of these factors can influence exposure to PCBs, and
interspecies variability will probably be much greater that any small or medium-scale spatial variability in
environmental PCB concentrations. Luke et al. (1989) failed to detect PCBs in bird tissues they analysed, and
Donnewald et al. (1979) found that total PCB concentrations in subcutaneous fat in pygoscelid penguins was
14-87 ng g-1 fat. On the other hand, Monod et al. (1992) detected PCBs in all seabird species examined, and
found highest levels in blue-eyed shag, with fat concentrations up to 51 000 ng g-1 lipid mass.
Van den Brink (1997) suggests that top predators in polar ecosystems represent a `sink' for volatile PTSs such
as PCBs. He measured high PCB levels in uropygial gland oil from Antarctic and sub-Antarctic seabirds -
Adelie penguin and petrels sampled at Hop Island in February 1994, and Antarctic petrels from King George
Island. Total PCB (suite of 30 compounds) ranged from 204-1588 ng g-1 lipid. Antarctic petrels had the highest
levels of the Antarctic seabirds sampled, and this is a comparatively widely-dispersed species.
Subramanian et al. (1986) measured total PCBs in Adelie penguins collected in 1981 close to the Syowa
research Station, and found a range of concentrations in subcutaneous fat from 28.8-124 ng g-1 lipid mass.
Lukowski et al. (1987) analysed subcutaneous fat and liver from three pygoscelid penguin species and four
seabirds from the breeding colony on King George Island. Total PCBs reached highest concentrations in
Oceanites (storm petrel), which forage extensively outside the region. Concentration in fat was 15000 ng g-1
(fresh mass), and in liver 1800 ng g-1 (fresh mass). Lowest levels were found in penguins, which are more or
less restricted to the Southern Ocean. Concentrations in fat were 150-720 ng g-1 (fresh mass), and in liver 60-
290 ng g-1 (fresh mass). This contrast between different taxa is mirrored in the data of Focardi et al. (1997) for
birds sampled over the period 1987-92 at Ross Island. Adelie penguins had average total PCB concentration in
the liver of 690 ng g-1 (dry mass), whilst the corresponding value for skuas was 2 540 ng g-1 (dry mass).
Levels of PCBs have been measured in the eggs of several seabird species. Risebrough et al. (1976) measured
total PCB levels in eggs from five species of pygoscelid penguins collected at the Antarctic Peninsula during
1970-75. The range of concentrations was were 21-180 ng g-1 lipid mass with no evidence for significant
interspecies or temporal variation. Gardner et al. (1985) analysed eggs from a total of 24 species of seabird
44
sampled at sub-Antarctic Marion and Gough Islands and islands off the South African coast. The lowest PCB
levels were found in birds at Marion Island. For the whole study, the range of total PCB concentrations was 5-
1450 ng g-1. Highest levels were found in Antarctic skua and wandering albatross both species which
disperse widely.
Seal blubber has been another tissue analysed for PCBs. Luckas et al. (1990) sampled four Weddell seals in the
Weddell Sea, and found mean levels of individual PCBs 3-9 ng g-1 blubber fresh mass and total PCBs 78 ng g-1
blubber fresh mass. Oehme et al. (1995) detected coplanar (non-ortho substituted) PCBs (CB-77, CB-126, CB-
169) in blubber samples from female fur seals at Bird Island in December 1987.
3.3.2.1.5 Marine ecosystem - benthos
Benthic invertebrates, especially molluscs, have been used in studies of local PCB pollution of the marine
environment. These animals are either sedentary or have only limited dispersal, and feed on suspended or
deposited particulate material. Kennicutt et al. (1995) measured PCB concentrations in marine animals from
Arthur Harbour (1989-93) and McMurdo Sound. Tissue concentrations of PCBs were low in Arthur Harbour
limpets, except adjacent to research stations where levels were 28-76 ng g-1, with approximately equal amounts
of penta-, hexa- and hepta-chlorobiphenyls. At McMurdo, bivalves showed high levels of PCB contamination
close to the station (380-430 ng g-1), but not at remote sites (5-22 ng g-1).
3.3.2.1.6 Summary
Overall, PCB levels in Antarctic marine biota are highly variable. Many of the benthic marine invertebrates
sampled have been collected close to local sources of PCB contamination, and may show levels of total PCB of
300-500 ng g-1, whereas tissue concentrations in animals from uncontaminated sites may be less that 10% of
these levels. Similarly, liver PCB concentrations in fish sampled in contaminated environments were 70-200
ng g-1, whereas those from uncontaminated sites were significantly less. Weber & Goerke (1996) suggest that
fish from uncontaminated areas showed increasing PCB levels with time, but this was based on a short
sampling period.
Birds and mammals which are endemic to the region, such as pack ice seals and penguins, have relatively low
PCB loadings. They probably do not respond to local PCB `hotspots' in the way that fish and benthic
invertebrates appear to. Penguin liver total PCB concentrations were typically not detectable to 300 ng g-1
(fresh mass), and levels in seal blubber were about 100 ng g-1 (fresh mass). Birds and mammals that forage
extensively outside the region clearly encounter higher environmental PCB levels, and these animals may have
tissue PCB concentrations as high as 50 000 ng g-1 (fresh mass).
With the wide variety of samples analysed for PCBs, and the spatial and temporal variability of environmental
levels, it is not easy to generalise regarding trends in these data. Focardi et al. (1995) suggest that PCB
concentration increases up the food chain, and they cite their own data as follows: Weddell seal 585 (407-750)
ng g-1 FM (skin biopsy), Adelie penguin 101 (56-188) ng g-1 FM, south polar skua 1162 (885-1676) ng g-1 FM,
fish (two spp) 21 (15-44) and 36 (18-77) ng g-1 FM. However, inclusion of other data presented here would
not necessarily support this simple picture. The data for phytoplankton presented by Joiris & Overloop (1989,
1991) and Joiris & Holsbeek (1992) suggest that PCB levels at the base of the food web can be high.
Subramanian et al. (1983) speculate that PCBs do not accumulate indefinitely in fish, but reach an equilibrium
loading.
45
Figure 3-7. Concentration of total PCB in lipid at various levels of the Antarctic marine food web. Values for
concentration in phytoplankton appear anomalous, and have not been included in this summary. Data
combined from sources cited in the text.
3.3.3 Persistent Toxic Substances - Unintended by-products
3.3.3.1 Polychlorinated
dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs)
3.3.3.1.1 Marine ecosystem birds and mammals
Two studies report data for PCDD and PCDF concentrations in seal blubber, and make comparisons with
samples from other parts of the world. Bignert et al. (1989) failed to detect these compounds in blubber from
crabeater seals, a species associated with the pack ice in the high-latitude Southern Ocean. Oehme et al. (1995)
used more sensitive analytical methods to measure these compounds in blubber from fur seals, sampled at Bird
Island in 1987. PCDD/PCDF were present at levels around 2 pg TEQ g-1 blubber. These are significantly
lower levels than Arctic pinnipeds, and PCDD-PCDF congener patterns were also different .
3.3.3.2 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
3.3.3.2.1 Marine ecosystem - plankton
Measurements of PAH in biota have concentrated on elements of the marine ecosystem around sites of
persistent or one-off contamination (e.g. Platt & Mackie 1979, 1980; Kennicutt & Sweet 1992). There are few
measurements in the pelagic system Cripps (1989) measured PAH concentrations of 5.75 ng g-1 DM in
Antarctic krill, the `keystone' zooplankter in the pelagic ecosystem in many parts of the Southern Ocean.
Cripps (1994) analysed samples of particulates from Bransfield Strait region. These samples were
predominantly phytoplankton, and concentrations of individual PAH compounds ranged from undetectable to
427 ng g-1 DM. Cripps discusses dietary uptake and accumulation of PAH by krill, and suggests that PAH
concentrations in krill may be consistent with phytoplankton ration, although not all compounds in
phytoplankton are found in krill, and vice versa.
46
3.3.3.2.2 Marine ecosystem - benthos
Because of the focus on local pollution, the majority of biotic samples are from benthic organisms. Such
studies require careful design and sampling strategy. Dhargalkar & Bhosle (1987) examined nine taxa of
benthic marine macroalgae collected in the Vestfold Hills region. They found high variability in total
hydrocarbon content, and concluded that here was uncertainty over use of the data to monitor local pollution.
Kennicutt et al. (1991) showed that macroalgae exposed to chronic oil pollution cleaned rapidly within a few
days.
In the case of single pollution incidents, carefully designed sampling strategies have been used effectively to
monitor the spatial extent and duration of PAH exposure. Kennicutt et al. (1991, 1995) and Kennicutt & Sweet
(1992) undertook extensive sampling of intertidal limpets in response to the grounding of the Bahia Paraiso
and the subsequent release of 600 000 litres of Diesel Fuel Arctic (DFA). Sampling covered an area within 6
km radius of the wreck to west of Arthur Harbour, Anvers Island, from one day after the spill until 2 years later.
Intertidal limpets were contaminated with DFA over a period of 6-7 weeks. Total PAH loading in whole tissue
samples reached 125 000 ng g-1 DM in the initial phase of the spill, and declined to about 180 ng g-1 DM two
years later. Closest sites showed peak total PAH tissue concentration for intertidal limpets soon after the spill
125 000 ng g-1 DM. This decreased about ten-fold over the 7 weeks following the spill. At more distant sites,
limpet tissue concentrations were typically 500-50 000 ng g-1 DM at the time of spill, declining to 35-400 ng g-1
DM two years later. Data for the locality are also available for uncontaminated limpets prior to the spill, and
these animals typically had low PAH (<1000 ng g-1), although background contamination from the nearby
research station was evident (Kennicutt et al. 1992, 1995). Total PAH in limpet tissues collected adjacent to
the new station ranged from 15-2900 ng g-1. Napthalenes predominated, with concentrations of 15-1090 ng g-1.
Remote from the station, levels were lower.
Cripps & Shears (1997) undertook a similar study in response to an accidental spill of 1000 litres diesel fuel at
Faraday Station, Galindez Island, Argentine Islands. Total PAH concentration in seawater reached 222 µg dm-
3 on the day after the spill, and returned to `background' levels within one week. Limpets were found dead
after the spill. Surviving animals had elevated PAH levels, but these levels were low compared with the Arthur
Harbour samples - 90 ng g-1 30 d after the spill. Seven months after the spill, PAH levels in limpets close to the
station were still ten times higher than those from an uncontaminated control site. This was ascribed to long-
term, low-level input from the station, rather from the spill itself. On the basis of these two studies, it appears
that limpets from uncontaminated sites in the Southern Ocean will have PAH tissue concentrations of <100 ng
g-1.
Other benthic molluscs have also been sampled. Kennicutt et al. (1991) also analysed the infaunal bivalve
Laternula as part of their sampling campaign associated with the Bahia Paraiso sinking. Animals sampled
near the wreck had tissue total PAH 17 500 ng g-1 DM, and 1200 ng g-1 DM more distant from wreck (central
Arthur Harbour). Cripps & Priddle (1995) measured PAH loading in another bivalve, Yoldia eightsii, from the
vicinity of Signy Research Station. Total PAH loading increased with age, from 1 to 21 ng per animal over the
age range 5-50 years respectively. However, tissue concentration declined with age, from 25 down to 5 ng g-1
(fresh tissue mass) over the same age range. Tissue loading varied seasonally, being highest in October (end of
winter) and lowest in December (mid-summer), which might reflect metabolic changes. Although these tissue
concentrations were probably affected by local pollution from the research station, they are consistent with the
very low background values found in Southern Ocean biota.
The feeding ecology of the molluscs cited here probably means that they will be very effective indicators of
local pollution. Other parts of the food web will probably accumulate lower amounts. Kennicutt et al. (1995)
analysed fish tissue from the vicinity of McMurdo station. They found PAH concentrations up to 650 ng g-1 in
contaminated areas.
3.3.3.2.3 Summary patterns and trends
The data do not indicate that there is a consistent temporal trend in PAH contamination. Background levels in a
range of biota are low, and do not appear to have changed markedly over three decades of sampling. The
47
spatial pattern of PAH contamination in marine biota and indeed the spatial pattern of sampling - is
dominated by local pollution incidents.
3.3.4 Organometals
Data on organometals are scarce, although there is a large body of data on heavy metal concentrations in a
range of terrestrial and marine biota.
3.3.4.1 Organomercury
compounds
3.3.4.1.1 Marine
ecosystem
Honda et al. (1987) note the low bio-accumulation of Hg resulting from the short food chain and low
concentrations in seawater. Joiris & Holsbeek (1992) provide data on methyl mercury (MeHg) concentrations
in Antarctic fish and seabirds, collected over an extensive area from 1986-90. Methyl mercury was typically
about 50% of the total Hg load. Data for fish are derived from whole animals, and cover 10 species MeHg
concentrations ranged from 0.03-0.55 µg g-1 dry mass (DM). Data for birds come from three different tissues
from three species. MeHg levels in muscle were 0.13-0.39 µg g-1 DM, in liver 0.3-1.3 µg g-1 DM and in kidney
0.34-0.78 µg g-1 DM.
3.4 TOXICOLOGY
Research laboratories in the region are not normally equipped to undertake rigorous toxicological testing,
whilst maintaining most Antarctic organisms in outside the region requires highly-sophisticated controlled-
environment facilities. Because of this, and because of low levels of PTSs in the environment and biota, there
has been little toxicological research. The following summary is intended simply to indicate some of the
approaches which have been used to investigate the interaction between different organisms of PTS which
occur in the Antarctic environment. It is not practical here to provide the sort of quantitative data which would
be available for other regions.
3.4.1 Anecdotal evidence for environmental impact ecological and physiological data
The distribution of organisms relative to sources of pollution or areas affected by PTSs provides an index of
sensitivity. As an example, Lenihan et al. (1990) related the distribution of the infaunal bivalve Laternula in
relations to hydrocarbon contamination of sediments in Winter Quarters Bay, McMurdo Sound. They
demonstrated an inverse relationship between bivalve numbers and hydrocarbon contamination. In a later
study, Lenihan et al. (1995) conducted `transplant' experiments, where communities were moved along a
pollution gradient and their composition monitored.
Pople et al. (1990) and Smith & Simpson (1998) used community composition changes at polluted and control
sites to follow the impact of an oil spill at Macquarie Island in 1987. Contemporary studies of the impact were
followed up two years later.
3.4.2 Physiological data for organism response
Enzyme activities provide a sensitive index of the response of organisms to exposure to PTSs. Focardi et al.
(1992a,b, 1997) have undertaken extensive research on the activity of mixed function oxidase in vertebrates in
response to PTS levels. Viarengo et al. (1993) describe the role of metallothionein in the homeostasis and
detoxification of heavy metals in the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki.
48
3.4.3 Data on metabolism and breakdown of pollutants
Concerns arising from local pollution incidents, especially fuel oil spillages, have prompted studies of the rates
at which natural communities metabolise such materials. Kennicutt et al. (1990) examined the capacity for
microbial bioremediation following the Bahia Paraiso spillage. They found low densities of hydrocarbon-
metabolizing bacteria turnover time for hexadecane was more than 2 years. Similar investigations have been
carried out by Kerry (1990, 1993) in studies of experimental oil spills on soils.
3.4.4
Experimental exposure tests
Various studies have tested the effects of exposure of organisms to artificially elevated levels of PTS. Some of
these experiments have been used single compounds, whilst others have used `raw' pollutants such as diesel
fuel. Kennicutt et al.(1990) carried out experiments which demonstrated no significant effect of the water-
soluble fraction of diesel fuel on photosynthesis of macroalgae. Other studies involving artificial PAH
exposure have been carried out by Ogrodowczyk (1981), Lenihan et al., (1995), McDonald et al. (1995) and Yu
et al. (1995). These have covered a range of organisms from krill to fish. Ogrodowczyk (1981) exposed krill
and fish to crude oil, and found krill to be especially sensitive. McDonald et al. (1995) tested the effects of
injection of fish with benzo[a]pyrene or Arctic diesel fuel.
Bystrzejewska et al. (1989) and Lukowski et al. (1989) tested the effects of various PTS compounds on the
photosynthetic rate of marine phytoplankton. Bystrzejewska et al. showed that very low levels of Arochlor
1254 (0.01-1 ppm) may stimulate carbon incorporation, but that respiration also increases. This balance is
reversed at concentrations from 1-50 ppm. The study by Lukowski et al. tested the effects of Arochlor 1254,
Arochlor 1242, p,p' DDE, p,p' DDT and lindane added to natural marine phytoplankton assemblage at range of
final concentrations 0.1-50 ppm. Lindane inhibited photosynthesis at all concentrations, and effectively
stopped it at 50 ppm. Of remaining compounds, decreasing order of toxicity were Arochlor 1242, p,p' DDE,
p,p' DDT, Arochlor 1254. The authors note that under conditions of ice melt, when chlorinated hydrocarbons
can be released rapidly following gradual accumulation over winter, levels of some pesticides may reach
concentrations shown to inhibit photosynthesis in this study.
3.5 SUMMARY - ENVIRONMENTAL LEVELS, TOXOLOGICAL AND
ECOTOXOLOGICAL CHARACTERISATION
Data on PTS levels in the environment derive from a range of samples, including components of the
cryosphere. Comprehensive datasets are available for only a few PTSs.
Concentrations in air of several pesticides, including chlordane and DDT, appear to have declined during the
period from the early-mid 1980s to the late 1990s, although this trend is not evident in data for HCH.
There is a comparatively large amount of data on PCB concentrations in the environment. Concentrations in air
are highly variable in space and time, and no long-term trend can be seen. Several studies have quantified
PCBs in marine sediments close to known sources of contamination. Concentrations in these sediments are
typically 100 to 1000 times values in adjacent uncontaminated samples, suggesting that background
concentrations in the marine environment are very low.
PAHs in environmental samples arise from local and global contamination. For many studies, local inputs
dominate environmental levels. Again, systematic studies show that PAH contamination in the marine
environment remains restricted spatially, and that contamination ascribed to one-off events declines over time.
No long-term trend in baseline levels can be identified.
Levels of PTSs in biota derive almost entirely from the marine ecosystem. There are no data for PTS
concentrations in people, and such measurements would anyway be irrelevant.
49
In the case of marine birds and mammals, concentration data for most PTSs vary in a way which probably
reflects the degree to which they are exposed to these compounds when migrating outside the region.
There is evidence for some pesticides in the assessment, such as dieldrin and especially DDT, that
concentrations in marine biota are increasing over time, despite the decrease in environmental levels. Tissue
concentrations of pesticides in marine birds and mammals remain low compared with levels in similar species
from regions with greater environmental pollution, and migrant species may show higher concentrations than
predominantly endemic species.
Levels of PCBs in biota are highly variable, indicating the dominant role of localised contamination in
determining tissue PCB loadings in some components of the marine ecosystem. There appears to be little
evidence for bioaccumulation of PCBs in marine biota.
Measurements of PAHs in biota have concentrated on elements of the marine ecosystem close to know sites of
long-term and/or one-off contamination. Because of the highly variable input to local systems, no temporal
trend can be seen. Background levels in biota are low.
Toxological data are sparse, and generally have been obtained from research experiments rather than systematic
monitoring programmes. Some experimental exposure tests indicate that environmental levels of some
pesticides may occasionally rise to levels show to affect phytoplankton growth.
50
4 MAJOR PATHWAYS OF CONTAMINANT TRANSPORT
4.1 INTRODUCTION
With the exception of low-level, and usually highly localised, emissions of PTSs within the region, introduction
of PTSs to Antarctica and the Southern Ocean comes entirely from extra-regional sources. The Antarctic
continent and the peri-Antarctic islands are isolated from the rest of the world by an extensive ocean. Any form
of overland transport of PTS, such as transboundary river flow, does not operate. Although `biotransport' is an
important process in determining the PTS loadings of some marine species, particularly marine birds and
mammals, it is only atmospheric and oceanic transport which constitute major pathways for PTS input to the
region.
The following brief discussion of atmospheric and oceanic transport of PTSs into the region is intended to be
general. It does not deal specifically with distinctions between different PTSs in their physico-chemical
properties (such as vapour pressure and volatility, solubility, susceptibility to scavenging by precipitation), in
their turnover time in the environment, nor to the possible specific source regions. All of these factors will
determine the way in which an extra-regional PTS signal is translated into environmental or biotic
concentrations within the region. At the end of the chapter, some local factors which might modulate the signal
of extra-regional transport are highlighted.
4.2 ATMOSPHERIC
TRANSPORT
Atmospheric circulation at mid-latitudes in the southern hemisphere is dominated by the westerly flow between
subtropical highs and the subpolar lows. Cyclone tracks typically spiral towards the Antarctic, carrying air
from lower latitudes into the region. Several studies of PTS concentrations in air have been carried out along
north-south gradients. Bidleman et al. (1993) carried out air sampling along a transect from New Zealand to
the Ross Sea. Concentrations of a range of PTS were lower at the Ross Sea end of the transect. Tanabe et al.
(1982 a,b) report the results of a similar transect between the northern hemisphere and the Antarctic continent.
Their data for spatial variability vary between compounds HCH showed a marked north-south gradient in air
concentrations whilst this was not the case for PCBs or DDT. Ockenden et al. (2001) sampled air at Halley
station on the Weddell Sea coast, and at the Falkland Islands. Vapour-phase PCB concentrations were
consistently lower at Halley. Tanabe et al. (1983) present data from an extensive survey involving two north-
south transects together with year-round monitoring at a station on the Antarctic coast. Along a transect from
Mauritius in the Indian Ocean to the Syowa station on the Antarctic coast, they found a decline in air
concentration of DDT, HCH and PCBs. They interpreted zonal differences in air PTS concentrations on the
basis of likely atmospheric circulation trajectories air sampled at the Syowa station probably originated over
the south Atlantic Ocean and carried low PTS loadings compared with air sampled over the Southern Ocean
south of Australia which would have originated in more contaminated air from the Indian Ocean region.
Kallenborn et al. (1998) similarly identify trajectories from South America to the site in the northern Weddell
Sea where they monitored airborne PTS concentrations. Barbante et al. (1998) suggested that lead carried in
atmospheric aerosol could be traced along trajectories between South America and the Atlantic sector of East
Antarctica, and Australia and the Pacific sector.
For some PTSs, the north-south gradient also appears in biotic loadings found during geographically extensive
studies (e.g. Gardner et al. 1985; Luke et al. 1989). However, other sources of variability typically obscure
such an effect.
Over much of the height of the atmosphere, the circulation systems in the two hemispheres operate separately,
and the timescale of exchange between these is long. For some PTS classes, it is possible to use data on
composition to confirm the southern hemisphere origin of the source region. For instance, Tanabe et al.
(1982b) suggested that the differences in HCH composition between the northern part of their transect (off the
Pacific coast of Asia) and the Southern Ocean samples could be explained by the higher use of `technical HCH'
in Asia, whilst lindane use in the southern hemisphere was demonstrated by the high proportion of -HCH in air
samples from the Southern Ocean.
51
Figure 4-1. Air-mass back trajectories (900 hPa) for Signy Island (ringed), the site of the study by Kallenborn
et al. (1998). The trajectories were calculated for successive ten-day periods in December 1999-March 2000.
Note the wide variety of trajectories, and consequently of source regions for air reaching the sampling site.
Figure provided by Dr John King (British Antarctic Survey), using facilities at the British Atmospheric Data
Centre.
From these and similar data, the source areas for atmospheric transport of PTS to Antarctica can be identified
as the being predominantly in the southern hemisphere continents. Some large-scale spatial variability in
vapour-phase PTS concentrations within the region can be explained in the context of likely airflow trajectories
(Tanabe et al. 1983). Over longer timescales, and as the production of some PTSs ceases or diminishes
significantly, larger-scale processes will dominate, and interhemispheric concentration gradients may be
reduced as atmospheric loadings equilibrate on a global scale.
Whilst we can identify the likely sources of PTS entering the region, and thus the atmospheric pathways along
which they travel, it is less clear how these compounds are deposited. The PTS load in particulates is typically
low (Bidleman et al. 1993, Ockenden et al. 2001). The dynamics of scavenging of PTS by snowfall are poorly
understood (Tanabe et al 1983).
4.3 OCEANIC
TRANSPORT
The circulation pattern of the Southern Ocean is unique. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is the
largest current system in the world ocean, transporting about 100 Sverdrup (1Sv = 1 million m3 s-1). This
current system consists of several cores (jets) which extend from the surface to the ocean floor. This
circumpolar flow plays a large role in isolating the Antarctic continent from the rest of the world ocean.
Ocean water from the neighbouring oceans can penetrate the Southern Ocean in two ways. First, southward
flowing water at depths of about 2 km penetrates the Southern Ocean as a component of the so-called `global
ocean conveyor' circulation. Probably the most important input is from the North Atlantic, via the southwards
flow of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) which upwells into the ACC. This water will have accumulated
any PTS load mainly in the northern hemisphere, and will have been isolated from the ocean surface for a
considerable time.
The surface circulation exchanges with neighbouring oceans by the penetration of mesoscale eddies or core
rings. These packets of surface ocean water typically only a few hundred metres in depth, will carry the
signal of more recent PTS loading from riverine-coastal and atmospheric input. The most intense exchange of
eddies takes place where the southward flowing western boundary currents of the Indian and South Pacific
Oceans, and to a lesser extent the South Atlantic Oceans, meet the ACC. This mixing process is probably most
effective off South Africa, where the Agulhas Current flowing along the eastern African coast meets the
52
northward edge of the Southern Ocean in an area where interchange between Indian Ocean water and
Subtropical Convergence-Southern Ocean water is high.
The balance between these inputs is hard to quantify. The flux of NADW into the Southern Ocean is probably
of the order of 10-15 Sv. Using concentrations of dissolved PTSs in seawater of ng m-3 to µg m-3, annual input
via NADW would introduce PTS to the Southern Ocean in 10 kg to 10 tonne quantities annually. Exchange of
surface water between the Southern Ocean and western boundary currents is very much more difficult to
quantify, because it involves processes which are highly variable in space and time. Taking the diameter of a
typical core ring as 50 km, and its depth as 100 m, then the volume of water contained within it is about 6 ×
1010 m3. If we assume that one core ring enters the Southern Ocean at each of the three main eddy formation
sites each week, this gives an annual transport of 1013 m3 y-1. This number seems large, but is equal to an
average transport rate of less than 1 Sv about 10% of the NADW flux. Concentrations of PTS in surface
seawater would be expected to be slightly higher, but despite this the importance of this transport route into the
region is probably small.
4.4 THE TIME-SCALE OF TRANSPORT
It appears relatively easy to determine the physical processes which dominate the transport of PTSs into the
region, and for atmospheric transport it is possible to determine by back-trajectories the likely source region.
In considering the implications of these transport mechanisms, especially in the context of the use of the region
as a global `barometer', it is also important to understand the timescale of the transport processes. This in turn
will determine how changes in extra-regional emissions will be reflected in environmental loadings within the
region.
As noted already, the timescale of processes in the ocean is likely to be long, and will smooth out signals of
extra-regional environmental variability. Midwater flux dominates transport at least in terms of volume, if not
PTS loading. It is likely that the NADW injected into the ACC will have spent several years (at least) isolated
from the ocean surface. The second proposed mechanism involving eddy exchange with western boundary
currents, will bring in water carrying a signal of more recent inputs both from the atmosphere and from riverine
or coastal sources. However, this process would still be relatively slow, and once within the Southern Ocean
the exchange time would again be a matter of years to decades. To provide a measure of the timescale, the time
for a packet of water to travel once around the ACC is about eight years. That said, there do appear to be
regional differences in loading of some PTS in ocean water which are sufficiently well-defined to be evident as
spatial variability in biotic PTS concentrations (Lukowski 1978).
By contrast, transport in the atmosphere will be more rapid and will be more likely to reflect time-varying
properties of the source. Bacci et al. (1986) suggest that what were then newly introduced insecticides
dominated the HCH signal in terrestrial biota, suggesting relatively rapid transport between source and
deposition. In a review of time-series data of atmospheric PTS concentrations, Bidleman et al. (1993) were
able to identify trends in concentration over a period of about a decade which agreed with global estimates. On
a shorter timescale, Kallenborn et al. (1998) were able to explain peaks in PTS concentration in air in the
northern Weddell Sea, by relating them to weather conditions which would have brought in potentially
contaminated air from South America. There are also seasonal variations in air PTS loadings, which can again
be related in part to extra-regional changes (Tanabe et al. 1983).
In addition to the time-varying responses to extra-regional events, the atmosphere-ocean system within the
region exhibits strong interannual to decadal scale variability which may further influence the impact of
changes in PTS inputs. The most conspicuous feature of this variability is the so-called Antarctic Circumpolar
Wave a coupled variation in atmospheric and ocean circulation which is quasi-cyclical with a period of about
four years (Murphy et al. 1995, White and Peterson 1996).
53
4.5 LOCAL MODULATION OF EXTRA-REGIONAL INPUTS
Although this chapter is concerned with long-range transport, it is important to emphasise that the input of PTS
from outside the region will be modified by various processes within the region. Because extra-regional
sources constitute the only source for most PTSs found in the region, these local processes are best viewed as
the end-members of transport routes. They determine how the environment and biota finally receive the PTSs
carried into the region.
Various unique properties of the environment and ecosystem will modify the way in which PTSs are released
and distributed once they have arrived in the region. Physical features include:
· Low temperatures which reduce or eliminate subsequent evaporation of volatile PTSs
· The importance of snowfall in overall precipitation
· The capacity of snow and ice to act as reservoirs for PTSs over timescales which potentially range
from years to centuries
· The effects of sea ice in isolating the surface ocean from atmospheric inputs for part of the year
Ecosystem features include:
· The low biomass, simplicity, and restricted geographical extent of the terrestrial ecosystem,
including the absence of large herbivores and predators
· The very close integration of marine and terrestrial ecosystems at coastal and island locations
· Poor development of soils in ice-free areas
· The intense seasonaility of primary production and other metabolic processes in both terrestrial and
aquatic ecosystems, which will in turn influence the temporal variability of the susceptibility of
biota to PTSs in the environment
· Slow metabolic and growth rates, contributing to long residence times of PTSs in biological
reservoirs
4.6 SUMMARY REGIONAL RESPONSE TO EXTRA-REGIONAL SOURCES
Almost all of the PTSs present in the Antarctic environment and biota come from sources outside the region.
They reach the region predominantly via atmospheric and oceanic transport. Other physical mechanisms are
missing or unimportant. Spatial and temporal variability in airborne PTS concentrations can be linked to
source variability and patterns of airflow and storm tracks. Similar variability in seawater will be masked by
stronger mesoscale variability.
The region probably represents a sink for most, if not all, of the PTS compounds considered in this assessment.
Physical conditions favour the accumulation of PTSs, and militate against their `re-export' from the region.
Both physical and biological factors imply that the lifetime of many PTSs in the environment and in biota will
be prolonged.
54
5 PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF THE REGIONAL CAPACITY AND
NEEDS
5.1 INTRODUCTION
Preceding chapters have shown that:
· For the most part, the levels of PTSs in the Antarctic region are typically very low
· For all PTSs covered by this assessment, there is no local production
· For a very few, there has been local pollution of the environment but this is typically highly
localised, with a very few sites affected and spatial scale of significant contamination less than one
kilometre
· There is an increasingly rigorous approach to minimizing environmental impact associated with
most human activities in the region
· Most sources of PTSs in the region are extra-regional, and this has probably always been the case
for all PTSs in all but a few localities
· Monitoring of PTSs in the environment and in biota is patchy and inconsistent, and is commonly
linked to assessment of the impact of local activities or single pollution incidents
· For some PTSs, time series of environmental concentration can be constructed, and these show a
strong relationship to use and release of these compounds either globally or at least throughout the
Southern Hemisphere
· Again, for only a small subset of the PTSs in this assessment, and a subset of the monitoring studies,
the broad geographic location of extra-regional sources can be identified
· Some factors complicate the interpretation of data on PTS levels in biota, including physiological
effects, environmental influences on exposure, and the degree of endemism of some animals in the
marine food web
Given some of the caveats stated above, it is clear that the Antarctic region offers the opportunity to monitor
globally averaged pollutant loadings in the absence of any significant widespread local contamination. The
first question to be asked is whether this facility to monitor extra-regional PTS levels has value in a global
context. If this is so, then other questions follow:
Would continuation of the existing type and level of monitoring carried out in the region be adequate?
If not, is there a need for a new, coordinated monitoring programme?
Can existing national or multinational science programmes in the region sustain such a monitoring effort?
Is the information which currently available sufficient to design a more systematic monitoring programme?
In particular:
Can existing data be used to assign valid monitoring sites?
Can existing data be used to identify optimum sample media?
Is there an adequate understanding of the transport of PTS into the region?
Is there an adequate understanding of environmental factors which give rise to local temporal and spatial
variability in the levels of PTSs?
Can PTSs be prioritised for a future monitoring study?
55
5.2 CURRENT STATUS DATA, REGULATION AND CAPACITY
5.2.1 The levels of PTSs in the Antarctic region
The measurements on which this report is based come from a variety of sites and media from the Antarctic
continent and its surrounding ocean and islands, collected over a period of more than thirty years. For all PTSs
measured, the levels are overwhelmingly low in comparison with those from lower latitude regions. In a few
cases, intense local contamination has led to higher levels, and these have attracted public attention (e.g.
Risebrough 1992).
5.2.2 Local sources production
No production of any PTS takes place, or has ever taken place, within the region. This may seem to be a
redundant statement, but the fact needs to be re-stated in the context of discussion later in this chapter.
5.2.3 Local sources contamination
As shown in Chapter 3, both continuous low-level release and one-off pollution incidents have resulted in local
input of some PTSs to the environment and biota. For the most part, the level of contamination is still very
low by comparison with emissions in more industrialised regions, and the resulting contamination remains
highly localised. However, in a near-pristine environment such as Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, any
contamination is conspicuous, and is now usually perceived as unacceptable even where its impact is slight.
Local sources of pesticides can be discounted, although trace amounts may have been introduced to the region
as a consequence of logistics operations (for instance application to aircraft or ships whilst entering the region
from outside).
PCBs have been introduced to the environment close to long-term human habitation. The concentrations are
well documented, and can be shown to be restricted to a kilometre-scaled area in even the worst cases
(Kennicutt et al. 1995).
Combustion products arise from poorly controlled burning of waste, and from other procedures (Risebrough et
al. 1976, Carrichia et al. 1995, Kennicutt et al. 1995). There are few data for dioxins and furans, but these
again indicate that the levels are low and highly localised (Lugar et al. 1996) .
PAHs probably constitute the largest category of local pollution, because of the widespread use of petroleum
fuels for logistics; technical problems with fuel storage and transfer; emissions from vehicles and generation
plant; and occasional accidental spillages. These last events leave a clear local signal in the environment and
biota, although this again is spatially-restricted and can be seen to decrease over time (at least in the marine
environment where most systematic monitoring has taken place) (Cripps 1990, 1992, Kennicutt et al. 1991,
Green & Nichols 1995).
There are insufficient data to establish whether local sources of organometals may contribute to environmental
and biotic levels.
It should be stressed that some of the local sources documented here date back two or three decades, when
environmental procedures were less rigorous that at present (see next section). In time, the local contamination
associated with research stations will decline. PAHs are probably the exception to this generalisation.
Although facilities for fuel handling have improved greatly, the amount of shipping in particular has increased
in the region.
56
5.2.4 Current environmental controls and regulation
Although previous human activities in the region have caused local long-term environmental impact, current
activities within the region are subject to rigorous control and scrutiny. Public and governmental concern over
environmental pollution were fuelled by several regional issues in the 1970s and 1980s. These included the
publication of an increasingly large body of evidence of the penetration of PTSs into the region, the
demonstration of the effects of CFCs (chloro-fluorocarbons) on the stratospheric ozone layer over the Antarctic
interior, and the possibility of mineral extraction within the region. These raised the profile of environmental
concerns within the region, at the time that the Antarctic Treaty was open for re-negotiation. As a result,
environmental protection now forms a very much more conspicuous and well-regulated element of human
activities in the region. With regard to environmental controls and regulation, the region comprises three
distinct types of area, or `divisions'.
5.2.4.1 Environmental control within the Antarctic Treaty area
The Antarctic Treaty (Washington, USA, in December 1959) refers specifically to all areas of land and ice
shelves (the seaward extension of the continental ice cap) situated south of 60°S latitude. This delineation
encompasses the entire continental landmass of Antarctica, and some of the peri-Antarctic islands and island
groups.
The Antarctic Treaty receives scientific advice from SCAR, which has at present a Group of Specialists on
Environmental Affairs and Conservation, and from the Scientific Committee of the Commission for the
Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (SC-CCAMLR). The implementation of environmental
standards and procedures is the responsibility of national programmes. Their coordinating body, the
Committee of National Antarctic Programmes (COMNAP) hosts a network for environmental officers working
within national programmes (AEON - http://www.comnap.aq/aeon).
5.2.4.1.1 Environmental Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty
Environmental protection within the Antarctic Treaty area is governed by a protocol to the treaty. This
protocol states that `activities in the Antarctic Treaty area shall be planned and conducted so as to limit adverse
impacts on the Antarctic environment and dependent and associated ecosystems'. The protocol includes
provision for environmental impact assessment, which carries a monitoring component related to local
activities. Any wastes containing PTSs are required to be removed from the Antarctic (Annex III, Article 2).
Some classes of material, including PCBs, are specifically prohibited under the protocol (Annex III, Article 7).
It should be noted that, although the Antarctic Treaty refers only to land and shelf-ice areas, the Environmental
Protocol does cover marine pollution with a separate annex, as well as specific articles in other annexes (e.g.
Annex III, article 5). Discharges of `noxious substances' to the marine environment are prohibited (Annex IV,
Article 4), although no specific categorisation of these noxious substances is provided within the annex. In
practical terms, the protocol defers to MARPOL 73/78 (see next section). The Environmental Protocol to this
Treaty, and its annexes, (SCAR 1993) details agreed measures to protect the environment and biota within the
Treaty Area. Many of the provisions of this protocol reflect the nature of human activity within the Treaty
Area, which is still dominated by scientific studies carried out from permanent research stations and by
expedition groups operating in field camps. The Antarctic Treaty system has an Environmental Protection
Committee (established under Article 11 of the Environmental Protocol) which considers a range of scientific
and technical issues arising from the Environmental Protocol, including:
The collection, archiving exchange and evaluation of information related to environmental protection,
The state of the Antarctic environment, and
The need for scientific research, including environmental monitoring, related to implementation of the
Protocol
(Environmental Protocol Article 12, 1I-k).
57
5.2.4.2 Environmental controls in land areas outside the Antarctic Treaty area
The second `division' of the region comprises those peri-Antarctic islands included in the regional definition
(and mostly in the SCAR `region of interest' see section 1.4 of this report). Environmental regulation in
these areas is the responsibility of the nations administering them. They may have explicit territorial waters or
exclusive economic zones in which special environmental measures apply. The list of these territories, and
their national administration, is:
Île St Paul and Île Amsterdam 38°S, 77.5°E (administered by France)
Macquarie Island 54.5°S, 159°E (administered by Australia)
Gough Island 40°S, 10°W (administered by United Kingdom)
Marion Island and Prince Edward Islands 46.8°S, 37.5°E (administered by South Africa)
Îles Crozet 46°S, 51°E (administered by France)
Îles Kerguelen 49°S, 69°E (administered by France)
Heard Island 53.5°S, 73.5°E (administered by Australia)
South Georgia 54.3°S, 36.6°W (administered by the United Kingdom)
South Sandwich Islands 56°S, 27°W (administered by the United Kingdom)
Bouvetřya 54.5°S, 3.5°W (administered by Norway)
5.2.4.3 Environmental controls in the Southern Ocean
The final `division' of the region is the open ocean, both within and outside the Antarctic Treaty area (bounded
to the north by latitude 60°S). Environmental regulation in this division falls under the normal conventions
applying to the high seas. An Antarctic Treaty body, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine
Living Resources (CCAMLR) regulates fisheries in the region, and this includes a strong ecosystem monitoring
component (see http://www.ccamlr.org/). However, CCAMLR does not have an explicit pollution monitoring
remit, although it does follow some issues which emanate from fisheries operations, such as the disposal at sea
of plastic debris.
5.2.4.3.1 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the
Protocol of 1978, (MARPOL 73/78)
The MARPOL Convention is a combination of two treaties adopted in 1973 and 1978. It covers all technical
aspects of pollution from ships, except the disposal of waste into the sea by dumping, and applies to ships of all
types. The Convention has five annexes covering oil, chemicals, sewage, garbage, and harmful substances
carried in packages, portable tanks, freight containers, etc.
5.2.4.4 Stockholm Convention On Persistent Organic Pollutants
This convention was adopted at the December 2000 meeting in Johannesburg of the intergovernmental
negotiating committee for an international legally binding instrument for implementing international action on
certain persistent organic pollutants. The objective of this Convention is to protect human health and the
environment from persistent organic pollutants. The selected list of PTSs is of direct relevance to the UNEP
assessment of PTSs. The Convention was opened for ratification signatures on 23 May 2001. The eventual
status of this convention in this region, with relation to the Antarctic Treaty and its Environmental Protocol, is
uncertain.
58
5.2.5 Extra-regional sources of PTSs
Chapter 4 provides a brief summary of transport routes into the region, and demonstrates that extra-regional
areas are the predominate sources of all PTSs. It is clear that airborne transport provides a larger and more
rapid route for bringing PTS into the region than does oceanic transport.
5.2.6 Motivation and strategy for monitoring PTS in the environment and in biota
The data presented in Chapter 3 of this report derive from a very diverse set of studies, undertaken for several
different reasons. The motivation, and resulting strategy, for such research determines both the current value of
the data and their potential value to future studies (see section 5.3 below). There are four main motives for
undertaking PTS-related research in the region.
5.2.6.1 Assessing existing and potential environmental impact
A substantial quantity of the research carried out on PTSs in the region, especially within the last two decades,
has been intimately connected to assessing the impact of scientific and logistic operations (and to a lesser extent
fisheries and tourism). This has been both in the context of existing operations and in performing impact
assessments for planned operations and projects (a requirement of the Environmental Protocol see 5.2.4.1
above). Such assessments may provide the basis for long-term monitoring programmes, because they establish
protocols for repeat sampling. However, the pollutants of primary concern are those which may be associated
with the operations, such as PAHs and other combustion products. As a result, complete categories of PTSs
such as pesticides will be likely to be excluded.
5.2.6.2 Response to pollution incidents
A few recent pollution incidents have provoked well-planned and coordinated studies of the extent and fate of
pollutants and their effect on biota. All the incidents have been fuel spills, of which that resulting from the
grounding of the Bahia Parsaiso was the largest and has been the best studied (Kennicutt et la. 1991, 1995).
Again, the coverage of pollutant classes in these studies is very restricted. Time-series sampling programmes,
which follow the fate of the pollution event over time, using repeat sampling in the environment and biota,
provide an especially valuable picture of the way in which pollutants are retained and transformed within the
system. Almost all of these incidents have been in the marine environment, or have had their main impact
there. However, the fate of some accidental spillages, and of some deliberate experimental applications, have
been assessed in the terrestrial ecosystem (e.g. Kerry 1990, 1993).
5.2.6.3 Using Antarctica as a global monitoring site
As noted throughout this report, the region is not pristine. However, contamination levels over nearly all of the
region are low, and local sources are small and easily identified. Most of the PTS input to the region comes
from extra-regional sources. These conditions suggest that samples from Antarctic environments and biota can
be used to monitor PTS levels on a hemispheric or global scale. Several studies have used this approach, and
the data calibrate well with other estimates of time series of PTS release, for example the resemblance of
Antarctic air concentrations of DDT to global estimates (e.g. Bidleman et al. 1993). However, for these
studies to realise their full value, they must be complemented with a good understanding of how individual
PTSs reach the region, how their concentrations in environment and biota will be modified by local processes,
and ultimately whether they will accumulate in the system (cf Champ et al. 1992).
5.2.6.4 Curiosity-driven
research
Many of the studies of PTSs in biota have been concerned with fundamental problems of how organisms in
extreme environments cope with environmental stresses either actual or potential. These are typically `one-
off' studies, and may sometimes be difficult to relate to the way organisms are exposed to PTS in the natural
59
environment. Many such studies are undertaken in research stations within the region, where facilities for
maintaining organisms and for undertaking large-scale experiments may be less satisfactory than those found in
larger laboratories specialising in environmental studies in other regions.
5.2.7 Time series of environmental PTS concentration
The large variety of measurements of PTS in the region often makes it difficult to construct time-series, which
must ultimately be the basis of any attempt to undertake global monitoring. Time series can be constructed for
air concentrations for DDT, HCH and PCBs, and these can be calibrated against estimates of global temporal
change. For other PTSs, and for many other environmental media, the sampling is simply too inconsistent
and/or the data too variable to construct a historical data series. The opportunity for recovering PTSs from
high-resolution environmental `archive' samples in snow and ice has been used in the past (e.g. Risebrough et
al. 1976, Tanabe et al. 1983), and may prove a potential means of increasing the scope of PTS data for the last
4-5 decades.
5.2.8 Identifying the geographic location of extra-regional sources
Knowledge of transport trajectories and spatial and temporal variability in airborne concentrations of some
PTSs has enabled some studies to identify the likely extra-regional sources of PTSs (Section 4.2) (e.g.
Kallenborn et al. 1998). It should be possible to specify these in more detail when the pattern of emissions in
the source regions are better understood, and from there to refine models of airborne transport. The same
cannot be said of oceanic transport, where a more complex pattern of influx and different mixing scales will
smooth out details which could link environmental levels in the region to sources outside.
5.2.9 Factors complicating the interpretation of data on PTS levels in biota
In the introduction to Section 3.2, various factors which affect the relation between environmental PTS
loadings and the loadings in biota were discussed. These again place constraints on the use of data for
monitoring, both locally and globally. Perhaps most importantly, the wide variation in PTS loadings in avian
and mammalian top predators in the marine ecosystem is seen to be determined in part by the degree to which
different species forage outside the region. Such variability makes the construction of temporal or spatial
patterns difficult.
5.3 THE VALUE OF ANTARCTIC PTS MEASUREMENTS IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT
In the introduction to this chapter, it was noted that the Antarctic offers a potential site for conducting
monitoring of global PTS levels. This is because there is no production of these compounds in the region, and
very low and localised contamination. This section of the chapter is concerned with evaluating the potential
value and implications of an Antarctic compo0nent of a global monitoring survey. This assessment is
conducted as a series of questions. The first question to ask is whether such a survey is needed at all.
5.3.1 The value of monitoring PTS globally from the Antarctic
In earlier parts of this chapter, we saw that Antarctica has a potential use as a `barometer' for larger-scale
changes in PTS levels, although much of the research to date had been undertaken for other reasons. Such a
barometer is a useful component of a global monitoring effort, because it provides a control for other estimates
of emissions. Also, the polar regions are likely to be the ultimate sinks for many volatile PTSs, so for this
reason alone monitoring in the Antarctic is important in order to understand their fate on a global scale. Champ
et al. (1992) provide a discussion on the value of such an approach. They note that existing environmental
studies in polar regions have yet to yield an in-depth understanding of processes, and thus make it impossible to
estimate human impacts on polar ecosystems. They go on question the value of polar environmental data in a
60
global context, but do not reach any firm conclusion. Risebrough (1992) writing in the same special volume
highlights the importance of some Antarctic studies in relation to global problems, and emphasises the need
for consistent measurement strategy if long-term or geographically extensive patterns are to be identified.
If we accept that we need to continue to follow the fate of PTSs on a global scale, and that an Antarctic
measurement programme forms a key component of such an effort, then other questions follow:
5.3.1.1 Suitability of existing monitoring programmes
As noted in Sections 5.2.6-9 above, the design of previous monitoring studies has not been adequate to provide
a clear picture of the temporal and spatial variability of the full suite of PTSs in this assessment. Most
importantly, the dominant interest from national research programmes in Antarctica is related to local
environmental impact, rather than being directed at global monitoring. This leads to:
Some classes of PTSs being excluded from the studies, because they are not likely to be produced by the
operation or installation being assessed
Dominance of data by local sources of contamination, even where these are trivial on a global scale
Selection of sampling media, especially biota, which are difficult to interpret outside their local context, and
which may sometimes be selected for their local significance but have little real value as pollution
indicators
Sometimes, but not always, a one-off or a `before and after' sampling design which cannot be extended into
a longer-term monitoring programme, or is unlikely to be so extended for practical reasons.
5.3.1.2 Future monitoring programme
The need for continued and globally-relevant monitoring of PTS levels in the region will not be met by an ad
hoc assembly of varied measurement projects, as those reviewed in this report. A programme designed
specifically to address the global exchange and fate of PTS would be required. However, such a monitoring
programme does not need to be hugely complex in logistic terms.
5.3.1.3 Available national or multinational science programmes
It is clear that the type of study undertaken at present as part of most national research programmes in
Antarctica and the Southern Ocean will not satisfy the requirements for a global monitoring programme. The
multinational research network, of which SCAR is a core element, does not have any suitable coordinated
project in place. Such a programme has been discussed in the past, but has never been implemented.
At present neither SCAR nor the national programmes are in a position to bear the burden of a global
programme. However, the Antarctic research community does have a good record of multinational
collaboration, and participation in global environmental projects. Any PTS monitoring programme would need
to be based on existing logistic infrastructure, but the international community outside the Antarctic would need
to bear the costs of the programme itself.
5.3.2 Requirements for a systematic monitoring programme
Although this report notes deficiencies in existing data, in the context of monitoring the global environment, the
data contain much of the information needed to design an effective monitoring programme.
5.3.2.1 Can existing data be used to assign valid monitoring sites?
61
First, there are sufficient data on spatial variability of environmental levels of many key PTSs, together with
trajectories for atmospheric transport, to select sites for the location of routine sample collection. Second,
enough information is available about the location of local sources, and the extent of their contamination
footprints, to establish monitoring sites away from possible contamination.
5.3.2.2 Can existing data be used to identify optimum sample media?
It is clear that the simple requirements of monitoring demand a routine assessment of those environmental
media which will reflect best the input of PTS to the region. Concentrations in air appear to be the best
measure of contemporary input to the region atmospheric transport is the dominant mode of influx of PTSs to
the region, and is also the one which responds most rapidly to changes in emission at source.
Expert advice is needed to assess the potential for deriving historical time series from so-called `archive'
samples such as sediment or snow-cores. Clearly, the period of interest spans around half a century, so that
high-resolution, undisturbed samples are needed. So far as snow cores are concerned, the only sites which
might provide the necessary temporal resolution will be in regions of high accumulation (i.e. high
precipitation). Such cores have already been tested for some tracers of atmospheric environmental conditions,
but their interpretation will require an understanding of how representative such areas would be.
Samples of biological material should also form a component of a monitoring programme, especially given the
secondary issue that expanding fisheries in the region, for krill, fish and squid, may require specific monitoring
if some PTSs accumulate in the food chain to levels which cause concern. As Section 3.3 demonstrates, there
are considerable practical problems with selection of biotic samples which contribute meaningful data to a
long-term monitoring programme. In particular, it should be certain that the large majority of the PTS load in
a species is accumulated within the region, rather than during excursions into other regions. Ethical
considerations will also play a part in determining the species and type of samples selected the public
spotlight on Antarctic science in many countries militates against killing of `icon' animals such as seals for
scientific purposes. Non-destructive sampling, such as removing oil from the preen gland (uropygial gland)
(Van den Brink 1997) of birds or the collection of eggs, would be an acceptable alternative.
Fish and squid taken by commercial fisheries would provide good material for monitoring, and samples are
already collected under CCAMLR jurisdiction for collection of condition data used in regulating fisheries. As
noted already, these samples may have intrinsic value in the future if PTSs accumulate in the marine food
chain. Of the avian and mammalian top predators, endemic penguins seem to satisfy the criteria on the
location of contamination better than flighted birds.
Terrestrial vegetation in the Antarctic has been used to monitor pollution (Bacci et al. 1986; Shears 1995)
although typically for programmes related to local impacts. Terrestrial communities are poorly-developed and
may be vulnerable to repeated sample collection. Rapid ecological change in some regions of the Antarctic,
such as local climate-related changes in the Antarctic Peninsula region, may also compromise a long-term
monitoring programme based on terrestrial plant samples.
5.3.2.3 Is there an adequate understanding of the transport of PTS into the region?
Atmospheric transport is the dominant mechanism for introduction of PTSs into the region. Concentrations of
PTSs in air reaching sites within the region appear to be sensitive both to the temporal variation in the tracks of
weather systems connecting the sampling site to the putative source (Kallenborn et al. 1998 see also Figure 4-
1), and to larger-scale geographic variability in source regions (Tanabe et al. 1983). This points to a likely
relationship between temporal and spatial variability in the pattern of atmospheric circulation, especially storm
tracks, which could be modelled. However, this could only be calibrated against existing or future data if
source regions can be quantified adequately.
Oceanic transport is probably well-constrained on a large scale, but also subject to high mesoscale variability.
It would be relatively simple, for instance, to calculate a reasonable estimate of the PTS load carried into the
Antarctic Circumpolar Current by North Atlantic Deep Water, given a knowledge of PTS concentration and the
transport rate. It would also be possible to identify where (and when) that water was last in contact with the
62
atmosphere or other inputs. Massive uncertainty comes in where mesoscale processes determine how that load
is dispersed within the Southern Ocean. This, and the long-timescale for circulation and mixing, means that the
concentration of PTS dissolved in seawater at a given site cannot be related to variability in a specific source in
the way that appears possible, to whatever extent, for atmospheric input. In the sense of understanding PTS
transport into the system, the ocean integrates on longer timescales than the atmosphere, but it may be that this
integration can only be exploited with extensive sampling. The oceanographic use of novel tracers such as
CFCs and bomb radionuclides provides a model for the sampling needed to determine PTS dispersal in the
ocean.
So-called `biotransport' is not a significant mechanism for PTS import to the region, but is significant in
understanding the balance between autochthonous and allochthonous sources when interpreting the PTS
loading of some mobile species such as birds. If this were thought to be a significant problem, good ecological
information on key species is available to allow the re-interpretation of existing data.
5.3.2.4 Is there an adequate understanding of environmental factors which give rise to local temporal and
spatial variability in the levels of PTSs?
There are several environmental factors which modulate the incoming PTS signal and which could in turn
produce a false picture of global dynamics if they were not incorporated into sampling design. For instance,
snow pack may accumulate PTS over winter, and then release much of this load in a few pulses during summer
melting. Sea ice formation and melting are not only separated in time, they will also be separated spatially
meaning that PTS accumulation and release can occur in different places as well as at different times.
The first strategy should be to identify the most obvious of these processes and to design sampling programmes
which yield data which are not compromised by local variability. This could be achieved both by selection of
the type of sample, the period when the sampling is undertaken, and the time over which the sample integrates.
At a second level, further study could prove beneficial in providing an understanding of the dynamics of some
of these local processes. This could aid in interpretation of existing data, and be used to refine sampling design
in the future.
5.3.3 Can PTSs be prioritised for a future monitoring study?
Selection of PTSs for inclusion in a regional monitoring programme which is focused on global issues is a
compromise between a number of factors. In assessing individual compounds, the following criteria have been
used:
Concentrations of the compound should be of demonstrable environmental concern
Concentration of the compound should be capable of being measured routinely with good accuracy and
precision in a defined set of sample media
The logistic and analytical infrastructure should be in place to collect and analyse samples for the compound
Existing data for the compound should be sufficient to underpin a future time series
It should be possible to isolate the extra-regional contribution to concentrations of the compound measured
in the region, as opposed to locally-introduced contamination
Additional benefit derives from classes of compounds where specific composition gives information either on
likely source, as is the case for HCH, or the history of the compound, as is done for metabolites and their parent
compound e.g. DDE and DDT.
Here, no judgement is made about the global importance of a particular group of compounds. If a single
pesticide were shown to be of foremost global concern, it would receive high priority for inclusion in a future
monitoring programme even if existing data are weak.
63
The following four categories divide the list of PTSs in this assessment into groups largely on the basis of
existing data in other words, those compounds for which there are already `good' datasets form a more
tractable basis for a global monitoring programme than those for which there are `poor'.
Category 1. PTS compounds for which there are comprehensive regional data (baseline and/or time-series) for
both environmental and biotic levels, and for which there are demonstrable concerns regarding local
contamination
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
Category 2. PTS compounds for which there are comprehensive baseline and/or time-series data for regional
environmental and biotic levels. Such compounds are of global concern, but may not be viewed as being of
concern in a local context (such as issues addresed in environmental impact assessments)
Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT)
Hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCH)
Category 3. PTS compounds where existing regional data are adequate to provide a baseline for future
monitoring, but where there are gaps in understanding of temporal, spatial and ecosystem variability
Chlordane
Hexachlorobenzene (HCB)
Category 4. PTS compounds where existing data are too few to provide a confident estimate of current
baseline concentrations in the environment or biota
Aldrin and Dieldrin
Endrin
Heptachlor
Toxaphene (Polychlorobornanes and camphenes)
Mirex
Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs)
Organomercury compounds
5.4 SUMMARY - REQUIREMENTS AND SCOPE FOR FURTHER ACTION
The region is unusual in its geography and ecosystems. PTS loadings are typically very low, no PTSs are
manufactured or applied in the region, and local releases are small and of restricted spatial extent [Chapters
1,2].
There is wide variation in the data coverage for different PTSs. For some, such as DDT and HCH, there is a
good temporal and geographic spread of samples from different environmental media and biota. These data
allow statements to be made about the input of PTSs to the system, and their fate within it. At the other
extreme, there are compounds or groups of compounds for which there are little or no data. Little of value can
be said at present about these compounds in either a regional or a global context [Chapter 3].
Extra-regional sources dominate the input of PTSs to the region. Atmospheric transport appears to be the most
important mechanism to bringing these PTSs into the region, and variation in measured airborne concentration
appears to be explicable in terms of known variation in source distribution and transport trajectories. Oceanic
transport is likely to be less important, and to integrate over a longer timescale [Chapter 4].
64
The current dataset has been evaluated, and a number of key features identified which qualify interpretation of
the data. It is noted that the current regimes for environmental protection will reduce the already very low
releases of the few compounds with intra-regional sources.
The region potentially offers sites to monitor the global occurrence and fate of PTSs, against a background that
is close to being `clean', and where local contamination is often well-documented. Future development of a
monitoring programme based on global requirements is possible. However, it will require a different approach
from the majority of studies to date, which have been focussed mainly on local impacts.
Existing data are often adequate to identify sites and sample media for a global monitoring programme.
Development of models of transport, especially atmospheric transport, will benefit any monitoring programme
and will enable better interpretation of some existing data.
Further work on the dynamics of some local processes, especially in connection with the interaction of PTSs
with components of the cryosphere, will be beneficial. Better understanding of these local processes will refine
the modelling of transport and release; will enable better interpretation of some existing data, and will
contribute to a better design for future monitoring
The use of snow cores as archive samples recording PTS input to the region needs to be assessed further. If
comprehensive, temporally resolved analysis proves possible, these data would greatly enhance a future
monitoring programme by providing a historical record dating back to the introduction of the various
compounds considered in this report.
Existing environmental data comply with other evidence for long-term changes in global or hemispheric
emission of PTSs. Interpretation of data from biota is often more equivocal, but it appears that in some cases
where environmental levels have declined over the last one or two decades, this decrease may not be evident in
biota. Some PTSs may be accumulating in the region.
5.5 RECOMMENDATIONS
5.5.1 Existing
data
Following further quality control, existing data need to be archived in a way in which they can be used
effectively in a global assessment
Data on biotic loadings need to be assessed a brought to common bases in order to construct reliable pictures of
spatial and temporal variability, and ecosystem effects
5.5.2 Local
dynamics
Studies are needed to understand how PTSs are deposited in the region in snowfall, and how this relates to the
atmospheric content of PTSs and to physical conditions
Studies are needed to understand the ways in which PTSs may be stored in parts of the abiotic environment,
and how these stores may be subsequently mobilised (for instance by melting snow or sea ice)
Studies are needed to determine the forms in which PTSs are present in the marine environment, and to test
hypotheses about their incorporation into the marine ecosystem
5.5.3 Long-range transport
65
Models of atmospheric transport should be developed to include region-specific dynamics, such as deposition
in snowfall
Back trajectory analysis should be undertaken where possible for all existing studies of air and cryosphere
(snow and ice) concentrations, in order to understand temporal and spatial variability in the context of likely
sources
5.5.4 Global
monitoring
Existing data should be used to identify potential sites for inclusion in a global monitoring network, and to
define suitable samples for PTS analysis
Agency support should be sought for routine sample collection and analysis to contribute to future global
monitoring of PTSs
5.5.5 Health
issues
With increasing exploitation of marine resources in the Southern Ocean, potential hazards to human health
from consumption of krill, squid, fish and marine mammals need to be identified
Where any potential hazard is identified, a suitable monitoring system should be established
66
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71
APPENDIX 1. GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS MENTIONED
(see Appendix 2 for the location of research stations)
Admiralty Bay (King George Island)
62°10'S, 56°30'W
Antarctic Peninsula
see map, Appendix 2
Anvers
Island
64°35'S, 63°30'W
Arrival Heights (Ross Island)
77°49'S, 166°39'E
Arthur Harbour (Anvers Island)
64°46'S, 64°05'W
Bird
Island
54°S, 38°W
Bouvetřya
54°30'S, 3°30'W
Bransfield
Strait 63°S, 59°W
Doumer
Island
64°51'S, 63°34'W
Ellis
Fjord
68°37'S, 78°05'E
Galindez Island (Argentine Islands)
65°16'S, 64°16'W
Gough
Island
40°S, 10°W
Heard
Island
53°30'S, 73°30'E
Hop
Island
66°50'S, 77°43'E
Île St Paul and Île Amsterdam
38°S, 77.°30'E
Îles
Crozet
46°S, 51°E
Îles
Kerguelen
49°S, 69°E
King George Island (South Shetland Islands)
62°05'S, 58°15'W
Macquarie
Island
54°30.S, 159°E
McMurdo
Sound 77°30'S, 165°E
Marion Island and Prince Edward Islands
46.8°S, 37.5°E
Paradise Bay (Paradise Harbour)
64°51'S, 62°54'W
Port
Lockroy
64°49'S, 63°30'W
Ross
Island
77°30'S, 168°E
Rothera Point (Alexander Island)
67°34'S, 68°08'W
Ross Sea
see map, Appendix 2
Scotia
Sea
see
map,
Appendix
2
Signy Island (South Orkney Islands)
60°43'S, 45°38'W
South
Georgia
54°20', 36°40'W
South
Orkney
Islands
60°35'S, 45°30'W
South Sandwich Islands
56°S, 27°W
South
Shetland
Islands
62°S, 58°W
Terra Nova Bay
74°50'S, 164°30'E
Vestfold
Hills
68°33'S, 78°15'E
Weddell
Sea
see
map,
Appendix
2
Winter
Quarters
Bay
77°51'S,166°37'E
References:
SCAR (1998) Composite gazeteer of Antarctica (South of latitude 60°S). Volume 2. Rome, Programma
Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartida. 328 pp
UKHO (1997) The Antarctic Pilot. Fifth edition. Taunton, United Kingdom Hydrographic Office. 262 pp.
72
APPENDIX 2. LOCATION OF PERMANENT RESEARCH STATIONS
The term `permanent' refers to year-round (overwinter) occupation. Other facilities are used intermittently, and
research is also undertaken from field camps and by mobile field units. Stations are classified by nation, and
are numbered clockwise from the Greenwich Meridian (see map). *Stations north of 60°S +Stations on King
George Island
Argentina
China
40 Belgrano II 77°52'29"S 34°37'37"W
27 +Great Wall 62°13'S 58°58'W
36 Esperanza 63°23'42"S 56°59'46"W
10 Zhongshan 69°22'S 76°23'E
32 +Jubany 62°14'16"S 58°39'52"W
France
37 Marambio 64°14'42"S 56°39'25"W
7 *Alfred Faure, Iles Crozet
38 Orcadas 60°44'20"S 44°44'17"W
46°25'48"S 51°51'40"E
22 San Martin 68°07'47"S 67°06'12"W
17 Dumont d'Urville 66°39'46"S 140°00'05"E
Australia
12 *Martin de Vivičs, Ile Amsterdam
16 Casey 66°17'00"S 110°31'11"E
37°49'48"S 77°34'12"E
13 Davis 68°34'38"S 77°58'21"E
9 *Port aux Français, Iles Kerguelen
18 *Macquarie Island 54°29'58"S 158°56'09"E
49°21'05"S 70°15'19"E
8 Mawson 67°36'17"S 62°52'15"E
Germany
Brazil
43 Neumayer 70°38'S 08°15'48"W
34 +Comandante Ferraz 62°05'00"S 58°23'28"W
Chile
India
25 Capitan Arturo Prat 62°30'S 59°41'W
2 Maitri 70°45'57"S 11°44'09"E
35 General Bernardo O'Higgins
Japan
63°19'S 57°54'W
5 Syowa 69°00'25"S 39°35'01"E
28 +Presidente Eduardo Frei
Korea
62°12'S 58°58'W
31 +King Sejong 62°13'24"S 58°47'21"W
26 +Escudero 62°11'57"S 58°58'35"W
73
New Zealand
Ukraine
20 Scott Base 77°50'60"S 166°45'46"EPoland
23 Vernadsky 65°14'43"S 64°15'24"W
33 +Arctowski 62°09'34"S 58°28'15"W
United Kingdom
Russia
39 *Bird Island 54°00'31"S 38°03'08"W
29 +Bellingshausen 62°12'S 58°58'W
41 Halley 75°34'54"S 26°32'28"W
14 Mirny 66°33'S 93°01'E
21 Rothera 67°34'10"S 68°07'12"W
6 Molodezhnaya 67°40'S 45°51'E
United States
3 Novolazarevskaya 70°46'S 11°50'E
1 Amundsen-Scott 89°59'51"S 139°16'23"E
11 Progress 69°23'S 76°23'E
19 McMurdo 77°50'53"S 166°40'06"E
15 Vostok 78°28'S 106°48'E
24 Palmer 64°46'30"S 64°03'04"W
South Africa
Uruguay
42 *Gough Island 40°21'S 09°52'W
30 +Artigas 62°11'04"S 58°54'09"W
4 *Marion Island 46°52'34"S 37°51'32"E
44 SANAE IV 71°41'S 02°50'W
74
Figure A2-1. Location of permanent research stations in Antarctica (winter 2001). (Map courtesy of SCAR)
75
APPENDIX 3. SCIENTIFIC NAMES OF ANIMALS
Invertebrates
Antarctic
krill
Euphausia superba
Antarctic
limpet
Nacella concinna
Antarctic
scallop Adamussium colbecki
Antarctic soft-shell clam
Laternula elliptica
Antarctic Yoldia
Yoldia eightsii
Fish
Blackfin icefish
Chaenocephalus
aceratus
Mackerel icefish
Chamsocephalus
gunnari
Icefish
Chionodraco
hamatus
Humped
rockcod Gobionotothen gibberifrons
Emerald rockcod
Pagothenia bernachi
Birds
Adélie
penguin
Pygoscelis adéliae
Antarctic
skua
Catharacta lönnbergi
Blue-eyed shag (cormorant)
Phalacrocorax atriceps
Cape
petrel
Daption capensis
Emperor
penguin Aptenodytes forsteri
Gentoo
penguin
Pygoscelis papua
Giant
petrel
Macronectes giganteus
Rockhopper
penguin
Eudyptes cristatus
Royal
penguin
Eudyptes chrysolophus
Southern
fulmar
Fulmarus glacialoides
South polar skua
Catharacta maccormicki
Storm
petrels
Oceanites spp
Wilson's storm petrel
Oceanites
oceanicus
Wandering albatross
Diomedea exulans
Mammals
Crabeater
seal
Lobodon carcinophagus
Leopard
seal
Hydrurga leptonyx
Southern elephant seal
Mirounga leonina
Southern fur seal
Arctocephalus gazellae
Weddell
seal
Leptonychotes weddellii
References:
Fischer W, Hureau J-C (editors) (1985a) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Southern
Ocean (Fishing areas 48, 58 and 88). Volume 1. Rome, Food and Agriculture Organization. 1-232
Fischer W, Hureau J-C (editors) (1985b) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Southern
Ocean (Fishing areas 48, 58 and 88). Volume 2. Rome, Food and Agriculture Organization. 233-471
76
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