Concentrations of natural and anthropogenic organohalogens in water and air samples in the Canadian Arctic during IPY (2007-2008)

Shipboard measurements of organohalogen compounds in air and surface seawater were conducted in the Canadian Arctic in 2007-2008. Study areas included the Labrador Sea, Hudson Bay, and the southern Beaufort Sea. High volume air samples were collected at deck level (6 m), while low volume samples were taken at 1 and 15 m above the water or ice surface. Water samples were taken within 7 m. Water concentration ranges (pg/L) were as follows: alpha-hexachlorocyclohexane (alpha-HCH) 465-1013, gamma-HCH 150-254, hexachlorobenzene (HCB) 4.0-6.4, 2,4-dibromoanisole (DBA) 8.5-38, and 2,4,6-tribromoanisole (TBA) 4.7-163. Air concentration ranges (pg/m**3) were as follows: alpha-HCH 7.5-48, gamma-HCH 2.1-7.7, HCB 48-71, DBA 4.8-25, and TBA 6.4-39. Fugacity gradients predicted net deposition of HCB in all areas, while exchange directions varied for the other chemicals by season and locations. Net evasion of alpha-HCH from Hudson Bay and the Beaufort Sea during open water conditions was shown by air concentrations that averaged 14% higher at 1 m than 15 m. No significant difference between the two heights was found over ice cover. The alpha-HCH in air over the Beaufort Sea was racemic in winter (mean enantiomer fraction, EF = 0.504 ± 0.008) and nonracemic in late spring-early summer (mean EF = 0.476 ± 0.010). This decrease in EF was accompanied by a rise in air concentrations due to volatilization of nonracemic alpha-HCH from surface water (EF = 0.457 ± 0.019). Fluxes of chemicals during the southern Beaufort Sea open water season (i.e., Leg 9) were estimated using the Whitman two-film model, where volatilization fluxes are positive and deposition fluxes are negative. The means ± SD (and ranges) of net fluxes (ng/m**2/d) were as follows: alpha-HCH 6.8 ± 3.2 (2.7-13), gamma-HCH 0.76 ± 0.40 (0.26-1.4), HCB -9.6 ± 2.7 (-6.1 to -15), DBA 1.2 ± 0.69 (0.04-2.0), and TBA 0.46 ± 1.1 ng/m**2/d (-1.6 to 2.0).