RAPID: Origin of Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Antarctic Atmosphere, Snow and Marine Food WEB

许多持久性有机污染物(POP)虽然自20世纪70年代以来在美国被禁止，但仍留在环境中，并继续到达迄今为止的原始地区，如北极和南极。这一快速项目的总体目标是更好地了解南极冰川融化对持久性有机污染物的再动员及其向食物网的转移。遗留持久性有机污染物具有独特的化学特征，将用于确定南极大气和海洋食物网中持久性有机污染物的来源。2010年收集的样本将对各种遗留持久性有机污染物进行分析，并将其行为与新出现污染物的结果进行对比。拟议研究的学术价值结合了(A)使用化学特征来评估融化的冰川是否正在将遗留持久性有机污染物释放回南极海洋生态系统，以及(B)更好地了解遗留持久性有机污染物与新出现的有机污染物的食物网动态。拟议研究项目的更广泛影响将包括通过支持一名研究生和一名博士后学者培训下一代科学家。此外，这项工作将有助于更好地理解原始南极生态系统中污染物、营养食物网生态和全球气候变化之间的关系。

Many persistent organic pollutants (POPs), though banned in the U.S. since the 1970s, remain in the environment and continue to reach hitherto pristine regions such as the Arctic and Antarctic. The overall goals of this RAPID project are to better understand the remobilization of POPs from melting glaciers in the Antarctic, and their transfer into the food-web. Legacy POPs have characteristic chemical signatures that will be used ascertain the origin of POPs in the Antarctic atmosphere and marine food-web. Samples that were collected in 2010 will be analyzed for a wide range of legacy POPs, and their behavior will be contrasted with results for emerging contaminants. The intellectual merit of the proposed research combines (a) the use of chemical signatures to assess whether melting glaciers are releasing legacy POPs back into the Antarctic marine ecosystem, and (b) a better understanding of the food-web dynamics of legacy POPs versus emerging organic pollutants.The broader impacts of the proposed research project will include the training of the next generation of scientists through support for a graduate student and a postdoctoral scholar. As well, this work will result in a better understanding of the relationship between pollutants, trophic food web ecology and global climate change in the pristine Antarctic ecosystem.