Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are produced by anthropogenic activities, such as traffic and domestic heating. Due to their adverse effects to humans and natural habitats, the presence of PAHs in the environment needs to be monitored. Plants are known as natural accumulators of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and can therefore be used for the monitoring of PAHs emitted into the environment. Contamination by PAHs also occurs in the Arctic such as Greenland due to long-range transport through air. However, as anthropogenic activities in the Arctic are increasing, there is a need to investigate the distribution of PAHs due to local emission sources. In this study, we present a systematic sampling approach to identify the influence of PAH sources in an area next to the town of Ilulissat in Greenland. Composite crowberry samples have been collected north of Ilulissat, where the town itself, an incineration site and Ilulissat airport are possible emission sources for PAHs. Matrix solid-phase extraction was used for the extraction of PAHs and the chemical analysis was performed by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry detection (GC-MS). In total, 18 out of 19 investigated PAHs could be detected in Empetrum nigrum in a concentration range of 0.69 to 93.01 μg/kgdry weight. Higher concentrations for most of the targeted PAHs were found close to the suspected emission sources and also along the road connecting them. For pyrene, the correlation between the concentration and the distance from the emission sources could be modelled and visualized using a two-dimensional exponential variogram and ordinary kriging. The range in which the samples were spatially correlated was approximately 500 m. Our results show that local emission sources contribute to the spatial distribution patterns of PAHs. Monitoring of pollution by airborne PAHs is therefore needed even in areas far from major pollution sources such as Ilulissat, Greenland. E. nigrum showed to be a feasible species for biomonitoring of PAHs due to its large abundance in the sampling area and its widespread availability in the Artic region.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Sigurd Tovborg Foundation, the Danish Chemical Society and the Jordbrugs Akademikerne for travel grants and the Innovation Fund Denmark Grand Solutions project: ‘GANDALF: Untargeted Fingerprinting Analysis and GIS Visualization of Contaminants – A New Paradigm for Chemical Impact Assessment in Urban Development (5150-00008B)’ for financial support.
We thank the staff from the Artic Station in Qeqertarsuaq for the support during the research expedition. We are grateful to Jette Petersen and Peter Christensen for their support in the laboratories.
Funding
The authors have received travel grants from the Sigurd Tovborg Foundation, the Danish Chemical Society and the Jordbrugs Akademikerne. Furthermore, travel expenses, costs of chemicals and transport of equipment to Greenland have been partly financed by the Innovation Fund Denmark Grand Solutions project: ‘GANDALF: Untargeted Fingerprinting Analysis and GIS Visualization of Contaminants – A New Paradigm for Chemical Impact Assessment in Urban Development (5150-00008B)’.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed mainly by Oskar Munk Kronik, Jens Prothmann and Gaudry Troché. Supervision and discussions of data collection and analysis were performed by Bo Svensmark, Nikoline Juul Nielsen and Jan H. Christensen. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Oskar Munk Kronik, Jens Prothmann and Gaudry Troché and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Kronik, O.M., Prothmann, J., Troché, G. et al. A study of the spatial distribution patterns of airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) in Ilulissat, Greenland. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 23133–23142 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12365-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12365-3