Contaminant profiles of air and soil around Casey station, Antarctica; Discerning local and distant contaminant sources

The primary input of Persistent Organic Pollutant (POP) contamination to the Antarctic is expected to be via Long Range Atmospheric Transport (LRAT) from emissions in neighbouring Southern hemisphere nations. In addition to LRAT, system input of POPs must increasingly consider alternate pathways. Human activity in the Antarctic represents a potential direct source of both legacy and current-use chemicals.It has been two decades since the organic chemical composition of air masses arriving in the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT), which spans the majority of the eastern Antarctic sector, was last investigated. The results presented here are the first atmospheric measurements made as part of a new continuous monitoring effort at Casey station (66 degrees 17' S 110 degrees 31' E), one of Australia's all-year research stations. These results are evaluated alongside POP contamination data of soil samples collected around the Casey station perimeter. Here we assess contaminant profiles for clues as to local and distant contamination sources.