Organophosphorus Flame Retardants and Plasticizers in Airborne Particles over the Northern Pacific and Indian Ocean toward the Polar Regions: Evidence for Global Occurrence

• Published in: Environmental science & technology Vol. 46; no. 6; pp. 3127 - 3134
• Main Authors: Möller, Axel, Sturm, Renate, Xie, Zhiyong, Cai, Minghong, He, Jianfeng, Ebinghaus, Ralf
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 20-03-2012
• Subjects: Air Pollutants - analysis; Airborne particulates; Applied sciences; Atmospheric pollution; Chemical compounds; Cold Climate; Environmental Monitoring; Exact sciences and technology; Flame retardants; Flame Retardants - analysis; Oceans; Oceans and Seas; Organophosphorus Compounds - analysis; Phosphates; Plasticizers - analysis; Pollutants physicochemistry study: properties, effects, reactions, transport and distribution; Pollution; Antarctic Ocean; Arctic Ocean; Pacific Ocean; Indian Ocean; North Pacific; Latitudinal variation; Marine atmosphere; Flame retardant; East Asia; Low volatile compound; Spatial variation; Transport process; Plasticizer; Long range pollutant transport; Aerosols; Organic phosphate; Air pollution; Polar region; Organic compounds; Concentration distribution
• ISSN: 0013-936X; 1520-5851
• DOI: 10.1021/es204272v

Organophosphorus compounds (OPs) being applied as flame retardants and plasticizers were investigated in airborne particles over the Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Southern Ocean. Samples taken during two polar expeditions in 2010/11, one from East Asia to the high Arctic (CHINARE 4) and another from East Asia toward the Indian Ocean to the Antarctic (CHINARE 27), were analyzed for three halogenated OPs (tris­(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), tris­(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCPP) and tris­(1,3-dichloro-2-isopropyl) phosphate (TDCP)), four alkylated OPs (tri-n-butyl phosphate (TnBP), tri-iso-butyl phosphate (TiBP), tris­(2-butoxyethyl)­phosphate (TBEP), and tris­(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEHP)), and triphenyl phosphate (TPhP). The sum of the eight investigated OPs ranged from 230 to 2900 pg m–3 and from 120 to 1700 pg m–3 during CHINARE 4 and CHINARE 27, respectively. TCEP and TCPP were the predominating compounds, both over the Asian seas as well as in the polar regions, with concentrations from 19 to 2000 pg m–3 and 22 to 620 pg m–3, respectively. Elevated concentrations were observed in proximity to the Asian continent enhanced by continental air masses. They decreased sharply toward the open oceans where they remained relatively stable. This paper shows the first occurrence of OPs over the global oceans proving that they undergo long-range atmospheric transport over the global oceans toward the Arctic and Antarctica.