Occurrence, distribution, air-seawater exchange and atmospheric deposition of organophosphate esters (OPEs) from the Northwestern Pacific to the Arctic Ocean

Long-Range Transport, Trophic Transfer, and Ecological Risks of Organophosphate Esters in Remote Areas

“…The mean ∑OPEs in surface water from the North Atlantic and the Arctic were 2935 pg/L, 35 comparable to the mean ∑OPEs detected in the surface waters of Canadian Arctic lakes and coastal sites (1714−6435 pg/L) 37 but lower than those detected in surface water from the Arctic Ocean (10,670 pg/ L), 67 Canadian Arctic Ocean (11,000 pg/L), 39 Antarctic Peninsula (11,425−19,392 pg/L), 60 Northwestern Pacific to the Arctic (24,101 pg/L), 46 and Canadian Arctic Lake Hazen and its tributaries (15,509−25,096 pg/L). 40 A relatively higher level of ∑OPEs was reported in Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard, the Arctic), where its ∑OPEs ranged from 8700 to 358,000 pg/L, with a mean of 89,018 pg/L.…”

“…44 Gas-particle partitioning of OPEs has an important influence on their environmental fate such as LRAT. 45 Some field studies showed that OPEs were prone to distribute in the particle phase including air samples from the North Atlantic and the Arctic 35 and from the northwestern Pacific to the Arctic Ocean, 46 as well as from the North Sea, 5 Chicago, and Cleveland. 47 Wu et al considered that the observation of a higher fraction of OPEs in the particle phase may be attributed to the particles and/or black carbon in particles effectively hindered the atmospheric oxidation of OPEs.…”

“…Na et al recently reported that some OPEs, such as TCEP, TCIPP, TIBP, and TPhP, in surface seawater from the northwestern Pacific to the Arctic Ocean tend to distribute in the dissolved phase, with relative fractions in the range of 80.5−99.1%, while some other OPEs, such as TBOEP, TEHP, and TCrP, tend to bind to the particle phase, with relative abundances in the range of 52.2−63.9%, respectively. 46 OPEs have different partition patterns in water which would influence its long-range transport potential. The characteristic travel distance of OPEs in the dissolved phase of water would be longer than that of OPEs distributed in the particle phase of water, which is consistent with the relatively higher abundance of TECP and TCIPP in water of remote regions (Table S2).…”

“…In Europe, even though many applications of TCEP in products have recently been replaced by TCIPP, however, TCEP still contributes more to the total OPEs than TCIPP does in some nonbiological matrices from the global ocean, Antarctic Peninsula, Canadian Arctic, and European Arctic. 1,24,[33][34][35][36][37]39,40,46,61,63 This phenomenon may be related to the high historical production and usage of TCEP and its high environmental persistence, as well as the continued use of TCEP in North America and Asia. 1,36 In addition to TCEP and TCIPP, OPEs such as TBOEP, TNBP, and EHDPP were also predominant in some nonbiological samples.…”

Traffic-related sources may dominate urban water contamination for many organic contaminants

“…Dissolved and particle-bound OPEs show much lower ratios, indicating either increased atmospheric dispersion between the watersheds and/or the presence of multiple sources of these compounds. Some OPEs are somewhat persistent and subject to atmospheric transport [28], which may account for a less steep concentration gradient, leading to lower urban/rural ratios. The herbicides are the only group that shows urban/rural ratios less than one (0.8) [25].…”