Understanding Arctic M Arine Pollution 1
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U N DERSTA N DIN G ARCTIC M A RIN E PO LLUTION1 By Mr. Jason Stow with contributions from Helgi Jensson, Lars Otto Reiersen and Simon Wilson TABLE OF CONTENT PREFACE .............................................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................1 BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................................1 CONTAMINANT SOURCES ..................................................................................................................2 Heavy metals ...................................................................................................................................2 Persistent organic pollutants...........................................................................................................2 Radionuclides..................................................................................................................................4 CONTAMINANT PATHWAYS...............................................................................................................5 Contaminant properties and transport pathways............................................................................6 Hexachlorocyclohexanes – an illustrative case study .....................................................................8 TRENDS IN AIR, FRESHWATER SEDIMENTS AND GLACIAL ICE AS INDICATORS OF ATMOSPHERIC SOURCES TO THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT........................................................................................9 Air....................................................................................................................................................9 Lake sediments, ice cores and peat bogs.......................................................................................10 POPS IN SEAWATER .........................................................................................................................11 BEHAVIOUR OF POPS IN ARCTIC MARINE FOOD CHAINS .............................................................11 Invertebrates..................................................................................................................................12 Marine Fish ...................................................................................................................................12 Seabirds.........................................................................................................................................13 Pinnipeds.......................................................................................................................................14 Whales ...........................................................................................................................................15 Polar bear .....................................................................................................................................16 BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF POPS .....................................................................................................17 Invertebrates and fish....................................................................................................................17 Seabirds.........................................................................................................................................18 Pinnepeds ......................................................................................................................................19 Whales ...........................................................................................................................................20 Polar Bears ...................................................................................................................................20 LEAD, CADMIUM AND MERCURY IN SEAWATER............................................................................21 BEHAVIOUR OF PB, CD, AND HG IN ARCTIC MARINE FOOD CHAINS............................................22 Lead...............................................................................................................................................22 Cadmium .......................................................................................................................................23 Mercury .........................................................................................................................................23 HUMAN HEALTH ..............................................................................................................................26 Dietary exposure ...........................................................................................................................26 Blood levels ...................................................................................................................................27 Epidemiological studies ................................................................................................................31 Reducing exposure ........................................................................................................................32 THE INFLUENCE OF GLOBAL CHANGE ON CONTAMINANT PATHWAYS.........................................34 SOME ITEMS/ISSUES FOR CONSIDERATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF DEVELOPMENT OF AN ARCTIC MARINE STRATEGY..........................................................................................................................34 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................................36 1 1 The content of this paper is the responsibility of the author(s) and does not necessarily represent the views of the PAME Working Group as a whole, or it’s member countries. Preface This document has been prepared as an informal contribution to the Arctic Council’s Workshop in Support of the Preparation of the Arctic Marine Strategic Plan, Reykjavik, October, 2003. It has been produced at the request of the AMAP Board, and with the assistance of Canada. The AMAP Board would like to acknowledge, with appreciation, the work of Jason Stow (DIAND, Canada) in drafting this document. The document itself is based mainly on the information presented in the 1997 and 2002 AMAP assessments of the State of the Arctic Environment with respect to pollution issues. The documented is intended to accurately reflect the findings of the AMAP assessments, but is not a product of the AMAP Working Group and does not, therefore, necessarily reflect the views of the AMAP Working Group. Introduction The state of the Arctic environment is influenced by contaminants that are transported from sources outside the Arctic and to a lesser extent within the circumpolar region. Of particular concern is evidence of elevated levels of exposure in humans through the consumption of marine mammals as part of a traditional diet. The purpose of this background paper is to describe where the contaminants of concern are coming from (sources); how they get into and behave in the Arctic marine environment (pathways); how contaminants behave in Arctic marine ecosystems and what effects they have on biota; the levels of contaminants that Arctic peoples are being exposed to and the potential health risks; and finally, how climate variability and global climate change might affect contaminant pathways in the future. Background Contaminants in the Arctic generally fall into one of the following categories: • Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) including pesticides, industrial chemicals, byproducts of incineration and byproducts of chemical processes; • Heavy metals of which the highest priority is placed on mercury, cadmium and lead; • Artificial radionuclides that have been released to the environment through nuclear weapons testing, nuclear fuel reprocessing, radioactive waste disposal and accidents; and, • Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) including components of petroleum and byproducts of combustion. Most of these contaminants originate in agricultural and industrial regions of the planet where they are emitted/discharged from various sources onto the ground surface, to the air, or to water. Once released into the local environment they eventually make their way into the atmosphere, rivers and oceans. As a result atmospheric and ocean currents that carry air and water around the world also carry a burden of contaminants that were picked up along the way. As these global currents of air and water move into the Arctic they bring with them their burden of contaminants to which Arctic ecosystems are exposed. In essence, much Arctic contamination is a reflection of worldwide contaminant emissions into the global atmospheric and ocean reservoirs. The information contained in this paper has been drawn from: AMAP assessment reports (AMAP 1998, 2002, 2003a, 2003b; and, Macdonald et al., 2003); Contaminants in the Arctic Marine Environment by Macdonald and Bewers (1996); and, Canadian Arctic Contaminants Assessment Reports (Jenson et al., 1997; Bidleman et al., 2003; and Fisk et al., 2003). 1 Contam inant S ources H eavy m etals Fossil fuel combustion is the main source of anthropogenic mercury emissions accounting for approximately two thirds of the global budget. Fortunately these sources of mercury can be controlled