Passive Air Sampling of PCBs, PBDEs, and Organochlorine Pesticides Across Europe

This study presents concurrently sampled ambient air
data for a range of persistent organic pollutants at the
continental scale. This was achieved using a passive air
sampling system, deploying polyurethane foam disks, which
was prepared in one laboratory, sealed to prevent
contamination, sent out by courier to volunteers participating
in different countries, exposed for 6 weeks, collected, re-sealed, and returned to the laboratory for analysis.
Europe was the study areaa region with a history of
extensive POPs usage and emission and with marked national
differences in population density, the degree of urbanization
and industrial/agricultural development. Samplers were
deployed at remote/rural/urban locations in 22 countries and
analyzed for PCBs, a range of organochlorine pesticides
(HCB, α-HCH, γ-HCH, ppDDT, ppDDE), and PBDEs. Calculated
air concentrations were in line with those obtained by
conventional active air sampling techniques. The geographical
pattern of all compounds reflected suspected regional
emission patterns and highlighted localized hotspots. PCB
and PBDE levels varied by over 2 orders of magnitude;
the highest values were detected in areas of high usage
and were linked to urbanized areas. HCB was relatively
uniformly distributed, reflecting its persistence and high
degree of mixing in air. Higher γ-HCH, ppDDT, and ppDDE
levels generally occurred in South and East Europe.