Air-Water flux of organochlorine pesticides along the Western Antarctic Peninsula

Samples were collected during the austral winter (September-October 2001) and summer (January-February 2002) along a transect in the Western Antarctic Peninsula. By comparison with previous studie they concluded HCB and HCH levels declined over the past 20 years, with a half-life of 3 28 years in Antarctic air.

However, they observed that heptachlor epoxide levels did not decrease in Antarctic air over the past decade, possibly due to continued use of heptachlor in the southern hemisphere. They detected peak heptachlor concentrations in air coincident with air masses moving into the region from lower latitudes. Levels of lindane were 1.2-200 times higher in annual sea ice and snow compared to α HCH, likely due to greater atmospheric input of γ-HCH.