INterContinental Atmospheric Transport of anthropogenic Pollutants to the Arctic (INCATPA)

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs, e.g. PCBs, pesticides and combustion by-products) and mercury (Hg) are toxic chemicals that persist in the environment and can be carried by air and water over long distances from emission sources to the remote Arctic. The presence of these pollutants in the Arctic ecosystem has raised significant international concerns in recent years, especially in circumpolar countries such as Canada. In cold environments, these chemicals can deposit onto the Arctic's surfaces and bio-accumulate in Arctic wildlife, country foods and subsequently northern people, to levels that may put their health at risk. The atmosphere is the first place that these pollutants are found. By measuring the concentration of POPs and mercury in the air, we can find out how much comes into the Arctic from external sources. Trans-Pacific transport of POPs from Asia to the Canadian Arctic has been identified at Tagish, Yukon, where high concentration episodes of banned pesticides, e.g. chlordanes, DDTs and HCHs (hexachlorocyclohexanes), have been linked to air masses passing over Asia five days previously. However, few Hg and POPs air concentration data are available from the Asian Pacific region. It was, therefore, not possible to ascertain the impact of these transport events from the pan-Pacific source regions on Arctic contamination. To address this gap in knowledge, the INterContinental Atmospheric Transport of Pollutants to the Arctic (INCATPA) project performed simultaneous air sampling for pollutants in the Canadian, American and Russian Arctic, as well as at source regions on both sides of the Pacific Ocean at the same time. This will give us information on where these chemicals have come from, how much from which region, and what climate conditions influence their movement to the Arctic. With this information, the government can create policies with other countries to limit their emissions of POPs and mercury and hopefully reduce what comes into the Arctic. Finally, with the Arctic environment changing, understanding how the behaviour of these pollutants will be affected by climate change is very important. Computer models are used to simulate pollutant movement to the Arctic to understand how prevalent they are and how climate influences their presence in the Arctic. This project aims to understand what future impacts these chemicals may have on the Arctic ecosystem and health of Northerners.