Arctic Pollution 2009 Arctic Pollution Arctic Pollution 2009 Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) ISBN 978-82-7971-050-9 Arctic Pollution 2009 Contents Preface .................................................................................................................................................... iii Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. v I. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 1 Climate patterns affect contaminant transport II. Persistent Organic Pollutants ...................................................................................................................... 5 Introduction Brominated flame retardants Fluorinated compounds Polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) High-volume chemicals with POP characteristics Endosulfan and other current use pesticides Legacy POPs Effects in Arctic wildlife Chapter summary III. International treaties and actions to limit the use and emission of POPs and heavy metals .................... 34 IV. Contaminants and Human Health ............................................................................................................. 37 Factors influencing human exposure to contaminants Food, diet, nutrition, and contaminants Levels and trends Contaminants and metabolism Effects and public health Demographic data show different patterns for many Arctic populations Risk communication Summary V. Radioactivity ............................................................................................................................................... 65 Introduction Sources: update based on actions and climate change Protection of the Arctic environment Summary AMAP Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme Oslo 2009 ii Citation: AMAP, 2009. Arctic Pollution 2009. Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, Oslo. xi+83pp ISBN 978-82-7971-050-9 © Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, 2009 Published by Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), P.O. Box 8100 Dep., N-0032 Oslo, Norway (www.amap.no) Ordering AMAP Secretariat, P.O. Box 8100 Dep, N-0032 Oslo, Norway ([email protected]) This report is also published as electronic documents, available from the AMAP website at www.amap.no AMAP Working Group: John Calder (Chair, USA), Per Døvle (Vice-chair, Norway), Yuri Tsaturov (Vice-chair, Russia), Russel Shearer (Canada), Mikala Klint (Den- mark), Henrik Larsen (Denmark), Morten Olsen (Denmark), Outi Mähönen (Finland), Helgi Jensson (Iceland), Erik Syvertsen (Norway), Yngve Brodin (Sweden), Tom Armstrong (USA), Jan-Idar Solbakken (Permanent Participants of the Indigenous Peoples Organizations). AMAP Secretariat: Lars-Otto Reiersen, Simon Wilson, Yuri Sychev, Inger Utne. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Authors: Annika E. Nilsson ([email protected]) and Henry P. Huntington (Huntington Consulting, [email protected]). Contributing experts: M. Alaee C.M. Butt H. Gunnlaugsdóttir H. Kiviranta S. Meakin D. Rawn J. Strand L. Alexeeva L. Camus Ö. Gustafsson J. Klungsøyr T. Messner L-O. Reiersen Y. Su P. Ayotte A. Carlsen B. Hackett A. Kochetkov L. Moseholm F. Rigét E. Sverko P.R. Becker J. Carroll C.J. Halsall A.V. Konoplev D.C.G. Muir J. Rodhe L. Tarrason I. Bergdahl G.N. Christensen J.C. Hansen M. Krahn G. Mulvad B. Salbu C. Teixeira U. Berger A. Covaci A. Heinrich E. Kruemmel L. Needham T. Sandanger C. Tikhonov J. Berner S. Dahle H.E. Heldal J. Kucklick B. Nexø T. Savinova G.T. Tomy A. Bersamin M. Dam P.A. Helm H. Kylin E. Nieboer T. Seppälä B.L. Tracy T.F. Bidleman C. de Wit M. Hermanson S. Leppänen S.P. Nielsen M. Sickel Y. Tsaturov A. Bignert B. Deutch D. Herzke R.J. Letcher A. Nikitin J.U. Skåre A. Vaktskjold P. Bjerregaard E. Dewailly L. Hoferkamp E. Lie T. Nygård H-R. Skjoldal B. van Bavel S. Boitsov R. Dietz I. Holoubek A. Liland T. O’Hara H. Skov J. Van Oostdam E.C. Bonefeld- S.G. Donaldson L. Hubbard J. Lindgren J.Ø. Odland L. Skuterud J. Verreault Jørgensen A. Dudarev H. Hung G. Lindström K. Olafsdottir J. Small M. Verta K. Borgå R.P. Eganhouse K. Hylland B. Luick M. Olsson L. Soininen K. Vorkamp R. Bossi M. Evans T. Ikäheimonen C. Macdonald S. Orre D. Solatie J-P. Weber B. Braune A. Evenset B.M. Jenssen R. Macdonald J. Paatero K. Solomon J. Weber K. Breivik P. Fellin P.K.A. Jensen J. Mannio R. Paltemaa C. Sonne D. Broman G.W. Gabrielsen H. Joensen S. Manø A. Parkinson G. Stern P.M. Weihe E. Brorstrøm- S. Gerland P. Johansen E. Mariussen H.S. Pedersen D. Stone S.J. Wilson Lunden A. Gilman E.H. Jorgensen V. McClelland L.H. Pettersson J. Stow K. Young J-O. Bustnes N. Green R. Kallenborn M. McLachlan A. Rautio P. Strand M.A. Ytre-Eide Indigenous peoples organizations, AMAP observing countries, and international organizations: Aleut International Association (AIA), Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC), Gwitch’in Council International (GCI), Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC), Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON), Saami Council. France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom. Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea (ACOPS), Arctic Circumpolar Route (ACR), Association of World Reindeer Herders (AWRH), Cir- cumpolar Conservation Union (CCU), European Environment Agency (EEA), International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), International Arc- tic Social Sciences Association (IASSA), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFFCRCS), International Union for Circumpolar Health (IUCH), International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), International Union of Radioecology (IUR), International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IW- GIA), Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM), Nordic Council of Parliamentarians (NCP), Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO), North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO), Northern Forum (NF), OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA), OSPAR Commission (OSPAR), Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region (SCPAR), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), University of the Arctic (UArctic), World Health Organization (WHO), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Graphical production of Arctic Pollution 2009 Lay-out and technical production: John Bellamy ([email protected]). Design and production of computer graphics: Simon Wilson and John Bellamy. Printing and binding: Narayana Press, Gylling, DK-8300 Odder, Denmark (www.narayanapress.dk); a Swan-labelled printing company, 541 562. Copyright holders and suppliers of photographic material reproduced in this volume are listed on page 83. iii Preface The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) tic monitoring, have participated in the preparation of this assessment. is a Working Group of the Arctic Council. The Arctic Council AMAP would like to express its appreciation to all of these Ministers have requested AMAP to: experts, who have contributed their time, effort, and data; espe- • produce integrated assessment reports on the status and trends cially those who were involved in the further development and of the conditions of the Arctic ecosystems, including humans; implementation of the AMAP Trends and Effects Monitoring Programme, and related research. A list of the main contributors • identify possible causes for the changing conditions; is included in the acknowledgements on the previous page of this • detect emerging problems, their possible causes, and the report. The list is based on identified individual contributors to the potential risk to Arctic ecosystems including indigenous peoples AMAP scientific assessments, and is not comprehensive. Specifi- and other Arctic residents; and to cally, it does not include the many national institutes, laboratories • recommend actions required to reduce risks to Arctic and organizations, and their staff, which have been involved in the ecosystems. various countries. Apologies, and no lesser thanks, are given to any These assessments are delivered to Ministers at appropriate individuals unintentionally omitted from the list. intervals in the form of ‘State of the Arctic Environment Reports’ Special thanks are due to the lead authors responsible for the on pollution and climate related issues. These reports are intended preparation of the scientific assessments that provide the basis for to be readable and readily comprehensible, and do not contain this report. Special thanks are also due to the authors of this re- extensive background data or references to the scientific literature. port, Annika Nilsson and Henry Huntington. The authors worked The complete scientific documentation, including sources for all in close cooperation with the scientific experts and the AMAP figures reproduced in this report, is contained in a series of related Secretariat to accomplish the difficult task of distilling the essential reports - the AMAP Assessment 2009 reports - or papers specially messages from a wealth of complex scientific information, and prepared for publication in the scientific literature, all of which are communicating this in an easily understandable way. peer reviewed and fully referenced. For readers interested in the The support of the Arctic countries is vital to the success of scientific