Alert 2021 Investigating the Impacts of Sea Ice Change on Contaminants in Arctic Air and Water

To undertake a contaminants focused field study in the spring of 2021 at Alert, Nunavut over the Arctic Ocean sea ice. The sea ice over the Arctic Ocean is decreasing at unprecedented rates with a significant shift in the Arctic Ocean from multiyear sea ice (MYI) to first year sea ice (FYI). With this sea ice transformation comes significant changes in how contaminants and microplastics behave in this unique environment. Thus, we propose to study microplastics, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and mercury over the last remaining multiyear ice in the Arctic to understand how this sea ice change impacts the cycling of these toxic chemicals in the Arctic.