Three-year monitoring of atmospheric PCBs and PBDEs at the Chinese Great Wall Station, West Antarctica: levels, chiral signature, environmental behaviors and source implication - Liang Yong

A three-year monitoring campaign (Jan 2011–2014) of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) was conducted using a high-volume air sampler at the Chinese Great Wall Station in King George Island, West Antarctica. The results showed that the Σ20PCB and Σ27PBDE concentrations (gas + particle) were 5.87–72.7 pg m−3 and 0.60–16.1 pg m−3, respectively. The lighter congeners especially PCB-11 (a non-Aroclor congener) dominated Σ20PCBs, while BDE-209 made a significant contribution to Σ27PBDEs apart from the lighter congeners (e.g., BDE-28 and -17). The chiral signature indicated nonracemic residues of chiral PCBs in the samples, suggesting potential influence of the secondary source, i.e. air-seawater exchange, on the atropisomer composition of chiral PCBs in air. Lighter PCBs (excluding PCB-11) showed significant temperature dependence in 2011 and …