PCBs in the atmosphere of King George Island, Antarctica

Literature data on persistent atmospheric contaminants in Antarctica and the Southern Hemisphere are scarce in comparison to those on the Northern Hemisphere, and refer to a
rather long period of time.
This data set reports that comparable levels of contamination in seawater from north and south of the Antarctic Convergence indicate that the atmosphere, not the water, is the dominant pathway for the transport of PCB compounds to the Antarctic. Concentrations of individual PCB congeners, registered during this study, in air, ranged from not detected to 33.2 pg m-3. Concentrations of PCBs were similar to those detected in Ross Island, Signy Island, and Admiralty Bay The study also emphasizes that PCB concentrations are related to meteorological conditions.
These results and other studies highlights the predominance of lower chlorinated congeners in the PCB profiles of air samples associated with the frontal system. Further
evidence of atmospheric transport of PCBs in the Antarctic environment was provided before by other studies on Antarctic lake sediment in which were found high contributions of atmospheric particulate matter indicating that it is the primary vehicle of transport and
diffusion of PCB in the environment.