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The extreme persistence and environmental mobility of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) make their presence ubiquitous in the marine environment. Target analysis of 20 most common PFAS revealed the presence of nine perfluoroalkyl acids at low levels in surface sediments from five Norwegian marine areas covering the vast region from the eastern North Sea in the south to the Arctic Ocean north of Svalbard in the north. After correcting for sediment characteristics, no substantial difference in the sum of the nine PFAS (Σ9PFAS) between the five areas was found. Among separate compounds, PFOS, PFOA and PFNA dominate sample composition. Only two compounds, PFOS and PFUnDA, showed a statistically significant difference for one of the areas, the levels of these compounds being somewhat higher in the southernmost area than in the other areas. This may be due to local inputs in the fjords in this area. Open-sea and coastal sediments of the North-east Atlantic outside of locations with significant local sources seem to share a common, anthropogenic “PFAS background”, which may be part of a larger, global pattern.
Elsevier
2024
The acquisition and dissemination of essential information for understanding global biogeochemical interactions between the atmosphere and ecosystems and how climate–ecosystem feedback loops may change atmospheric composition in the future comprise a fundamental prerequisite for societal resilience in the face of climate change. In particular, the detection of trends and seasonality in the abundance of greenhouse gases and short-lived climate-active atmospheric constituents is an important aspect of climate science. Therefore, easy and fast access to reliable, long-term, and high-quality observational environmental data is recognised as fundamental to research and the development of environmental forecasting and assessment services. In our opinion article, we discuss the potential role that environmental research infrastructures in Europe (ENVRI RIs) can play in the context of an integrated global observation system. In particular, we focus on the role of the atmosphere-centred research infrastructures ACTRIS (Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure), IAGOS (In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System), and ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observation System), also referred to as ATMO-RIs, with their capabilities for standardised collection and provision of long-term and high-quality observational data, complemented by rich metadata. The ATMO-RIs provide data through open access and offer data interoperability across different research fields including all fields of environmental sciences and beyond. As a result of these capabilities in data collection and provision, we elaborate on the novel research opportunities in atmospheric sciences which arise from the combination of open-access and interoperable observational data, tools, and technologies offered by data-intensive science and the emerging collaboration platform ENVRI-Hub, hosted by the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).
2024
2024
Contribution of fluorescent primary biological aerosol particles to low-level Arctic cloud residuals
Mixed-phase clouds (MPCs) are key players in the Arctic climate system due to their role in modulating solar and terrestrial radiation. Such radiative interactions rely, among other factors, on the ice content of MPCs, which is regulated by the availability of ice-nucleating particles (INPs). While it appears that INPs are associated with the presence of primary biological aerosol particles (PBAPs) in the Arctic, the nuances of the processes and patterns of INPs and their association with clouds and moisture sources have not been resolved. Here, we investigated for a full year the abundance of and variability in fluorescent PBAPs (fPBAPs) within cloud residuals, directly sampled by a multiparameter bioaerosol spectrometer coupled to a ground-based counterflow virtual impactor inlet at the Zeppelin Observatory (475 m a.s.l.) in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. fPBAP concentrations (10−3–10−2 L−1) and contributions to coarse-mode cloud residuals (0.1 to 1 in every 103 particles) were found to be close to those expected for high-temperature INPs. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the presence of PBAPs, most likely bacteria, within one cloud residual sample. Seasonally, our results reveal an elevated presence of fPBAPs within cloud residuals in summer. Parallel water vapor isotope measurements point towards a link between summer clouds and regionally sourced air masses. Low-level MPCs were predominantly observed at the beginning and end of summer, and one explanation for their presence is the existence of high-temperature INPs. In this study, we present direct observational evidence that fPBAPs may play an important role in determining the phase of low-level Arctic clouds. These findings have potential implications for the future description of sources of ice nuclei given ongoing changes in the hydrological and biogeochemical cycles that will influence the PBAP flux in and towards the Arctic
2024
2024
Evaluation of isoprene emissions from the coupled model SURFEX–MEGANv2.1
Isoprene, a key biogenic volatile organic compound, plays a pivotal role in atmospheric chemistry. Due to its high reactivity, this compound contributes significantly to the production of tropospheric ozone in polluted areas and to the formation of secondary organic aerosols.
The assessment of biogenic emissions is of great importance for regional and global air quality evaluation. In this study, we implemented the biogenic emission model MEGANv2.1 (Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature, version 2.1) in the surface model SURFEXv8.1 (SURface EXternalisée in French, version 8.1). This coupling aims to improve the estimation of biogenic emissions using the detailed vegetation-type-dependent treatment included in the SURFEX vegetation ISBA (Interaction between Soil Biosphere and Atmosphere) scheme. This scheme provides vegetation-dependent parameters such as leaf area index and soil moisture to MEGAN. This approach enables a more accurate estimation of biogenic fluxes compared to the stand-alone MEGAN model, which relies on average input values for all vegetation types.
The present study focuses on the assessment of the SURFEX–MEGAN model isoprene emissions. An evaluation of the coupled SURFEX–MEGAN model results was carried out by conducting a global isoprene emission simulation in 2019 and by comparing the simulation results with other MEGAN-based isoprene inventories. The coupled model estimates a total global isoprene emission of 443 Tg in 2019. The estimated isoprene is within the range of results obtained with other MEGAN-based isoprene inventories, ranging from 311 to 637 Tg. The spatial distribution of SURFEX–MEGAN isoprene is consistent with other studies, with some differences located in low-isoprene-emission regions.
Several sensitivity tests were conducted to quantify the impact of different model inputs and configurations on isoprene emissions. Using different meteorological forcings resulted in a ±5 % change in isoprene emissions using MERRA (Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications) and IFS (Integrated Forecasting System) compared with ERA5. The impact of using different emission factor data was also investigated. The use of PFT (plant functional type) spatial coverage and PFT-dependent emission potential data resulted in a 12 % reduction compared to using the isoprene emission potential gridded map. A significant reduction of around 38 % in global isoprene emissions was observed in the third sensitivity analysis, which applied a parameterization of soil moisture deficit, particularly in certain regions of Australia, Africa, and South America.
The significance of coupling the SURFEX and MEGAN models lies particularly in the ability of the coupled model to be forced with meteorological data from any period. This means, for instance, that this system can be used to predict biogenic emissions in the future. This aspect of our work is significant given the changes that biogenic organic compounds are expected to undergo as a result of changes in their climatic factors.
2024
This paper presents the results of a multidisciplinary study with the aim of assessing the potential combined risk from consuming locally harvested food products in the Euro-Arctic region of Norway, Finland, and Russia. The three important contaminant groups—radioactive substances, heavy metals, and persistent organic pollutants (POPs)—were measured in food samples such as berries, mushrooms, fish, birds, reindeer, and moose; they were sampled in 2013–2015. To assess the combined pollution levels and investigate the trends, similarities, and variations between different contaminant groups, subsequent multivariate statistical analysis was performed. The results showed that, in general, the levels of radioactive substances, toxic elements, and POPs were below the permitted EU maximum content in food products. However, statistical analysis revealed some correlations, similarities, and peculiarities between the accumulation of different contaminants in various species, which allowed for a better understanding of the mechanisms of accumulation and interaction between different contaminant groups. It also gave a better insight into the possible added risks and helped pinpoint species that could serve as reference markers for the accumulation of different contaminants in food. Mushrooms, fish, and reindeer were found to be important markers in the combined risk assessments for the contents of metals and radioactive substances. Further research, as well as the development of methodologies for combined assessments, are recommended.
MDPI
2024
2024
Emission ensemble approach to improve the development of multi-scale emission inventories
Many studies have shown that emission inventories are one of the inputs with the most critical influences on the results of air quality modelling. Comparing emission inventories among themselves is, therefore, essential to build confidence in emission estimates. In this work, we extend the approach of Thunis et al. (2022) to compare emission inventories by building a benchmark that serves as a reference for comparisons. This benchmark is an ensemble that is based on three state-of-the-art EU-wide inventories: CAMS-REG, EMEP and EDGAR. The ensemble-based methodology screens differences between inventories and the ensemble. It excludes differences that are not relevant and identifies among the remaining ones those that need special attention. We applied the ensemble-based screening to both an EU-wide and a local (Poland) inventory.
The EU-wide analysis highlighted a large number of inconsistencies. While the origin of some differences between EDGAR and the ensemble can be identified, their magnitude remains to be explained. These differences mostly occur for SO2 (sulfur oxides), PM (particulate matter) and NMVOC (non-methane volatile organic carbon) for the industrial and residential sectors and reach a factor of 10 in some instances. Spatial inconsistencies mostly occur for the industry and other sectors.
At the local scale, inconsistencies relate mostly to differences in country sectorial shares that result from different sectors/activities being accounted for in the two types of inventories. This is explained by the fact that some emission sources are omitted in the local inventory due to a lack of appropriate geographically allocated activity data. We identified sectors and pollutants for which discussion between local and EU-wide emission compilers would be needed in order to reduce the magnitude of the observed differences (e.g. in the residential and industrial sectors).
The ensemble-based screening proved to be a useful approach to spot inconsistencies by reducing the number of necessary inventory comparisons. With the progressive resolution of inconsistencies and associated inventory improvements, the ensemble will improve. In this sense, we see the ensemble as a useful tool to motivate the community around a single common benchmark and monitor progress towards the improvement of regionally and locally developed emission inventories.
2024
The Pan-Eurasian Experiment Modelling Platform (PEEX-MP) is one of the key blocks of the PEEX Research Programme. The PEEX MP has more than 30 models and is directed towards seamless environmental prediction. The main focus area is the Arctic-boreal regions and China. The models used in PEEX-MP cover several main components of the Earth’s system, such as the atmosphere, hydrosphere, pedosphere and biosphere, and resolve the physical-chemical-biological processes at different spatial and temporal scales and resolutions. This paper introduces and discusses PEEX MP multi-scale modelling concept for the Earth system, online integrated, forward/inverse, and socioeconomical modelling, and other approaches with a particular focus on applications in the PEEX geographical domain. The employed high-performance computing facilities, capabilities, and PEEX dataflow for modelling results are described. Several virtual research platforms (PEEX-View, Virtual Research Environment, Web-based Atlas) for handling PEEX modelling and observational results are introduced. The overall approach allows us to understand better physical-chemical-biological processes, Earth’s system interactions and feedbacks and to provide valuable information for assessment studies on evaluating risks, impact, consequences, etc. for population, environment and climate in the PEEX domain. This work was also one of the last projects of Prof. Sergej Zilitinkevich, who passed away on 15 February 2021. Since the finalization took time, the paper was actually submitted in 2023 and we could not argue that the final paper text was agreed with him.
Taylor & Francis
2024
Understanding individual heat exposure through interdisciplinary research on thermoception
Extreme heat events are more frequent and more intense globally due to climate change. The urban environment is an additional factor enhancing the effects of heat. Adults above 65 years old are especially at risk due to their poorer health, physiology and socio-economic situation. Yet, there is limited knowledge about their experiences of summer heat, their actual heat exposure and how they negotiate their thermal comfort through different adaptation practices. In conventional research on heat exposure and thermal comfort, very little attention is given to individual behaviour and subjective experiences. To understand how older adults feel the heat in the city we study their thermoception, which we conceptualise as an embodied knowledge about bodily sensations, thermal environments and adjustments to heat. This article stems from interdisciplinary research conducted in Warsaw and Madrid in the summers of 2021–2022. We combine and juxtapose data from ethnographic research and from physical measurements of temperature gathered in people’s homes, to show on a microscale how we can study and understand the diversity in individual heat exposure more holistically. We demonstrate that to understand the consequences of heat for vulnerable populations it is crucial to study thermoception, the subjective experiences of heat, in addition to analysing their thermal environments. With the use of a unique methodology, this article shows how similar weather conditions are experienced differently by people from the same cities, depending on the materiality of their dwellings, availability of cooling devices, as well as everyday habits and their individual bodies. We discuss the social, material and temporal adjustments participants made to deal with heat, to showcase their agency in affecting their individual heat exposure. The article emphasises the role of social sciences and qualitative methods in research on individual heat exposure and argues for the co-production of knowledge on the topic.
Palgrave Macmillan
2024
Mapping Plastic and Plastic Additive Cycles in Coastal Countries: A Norwegian Case Study
The growing environmental consequences caused by plastic pollution highlight the need for a better understanding of plastic polymer cycles and their associated additives. We present a novel, comprehensive top-down method using inflow-driven dynamic probabilistic material flow analysis (DPMFA) to map the plastic cycle in coastal countries. For the first time, we covered the progressive leaching of microplastics to the environment during the use phase of products and modeled the presence of 232 plastic additives. We applied this methodology to Norway and proposed initial release pathways to different environmental compartments. 758 kt of plastics distributed among 13 different polymers was introduced to the Norwegian economy in 2020, 4.4 Mt was present in in-use stocks, and 632 kt was wasted, of which 15.2 kt (2.4%) was released to the environment with a similar share of macro- and microplastics and 4.8 kt ended up in the ocean. Our study shows tire wear rubber as a highly pollutive microplastic source, while most macroplastics originated from consumer packaging with LDPE, PP, and PET as dominant polymers. Additionally, 75 kt of plastic additives was potentially released to the environment alongside these polymers. We emphasize that upstream measures, such as consumption reduction and changes in product design, would result in the most positive impact for limiting plastic pollution.
2024
2024
A Machine Learning Approach to Retrieving Aerosol Optical Depth Using Solar Radiation Measurements
Aerosol optical depth (AOD) constitutes a key parameter of aerosols, providing vital information for quantifying the aerosol burden and air quality at global and regional levels. This study demonstrates a machine learning strategy for retrieving AOD under cloud-free conditions based on the synergy of machine learning algorithms (MLAs) and ground-based solar irradiance data. The performance of the proposed methodology was investigated by applying different components of solar irradiance. In particular, the use of direct instead of global irradiance as a model feature led to better performance. The MLA-based AODs were compared to reference AERONET retrievals, which encompassed RMSE values between 0.01 and 0.15, regardless of the underlying climate and aerosol environments. Among the MLAs, artificial neural networks outperformed the other algorithms in terms of RMSE at 54% of the measurement sites. The overall performance of MLA-based AODs against AERONET revealed a high coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.97), MAE of 0.01, and RMSE of 0.02. Compared to satellite (MODIS) and reanalysis (MERRA-2 and CAMSRA) data, the MLA-AOD retrievals revealed the highest accuracy at all stations. The ML-AOD retrievals have the potential to expand and complement the AOD information in non-existing timeframes when solar irradiances are available.
MDPI
2024
There are sparse opportunities for direct measurement of upper stratospheric winds, yet improving their representation in subseasonal-to-seasonal prediction models can have significant benefits. There is solid evidence from previous research that global atmospheric infrasound waves are sensitive to stratospheric dynamics. However, there is a lack of results providing a direct mapping between infrasound recordings and polar-cap upper stratospheric winds. The global International Monitoring System (IMS), which monitors compliance with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, includes ground-based stations that can be used to characterize the infrasound soundscape continuously. In this study, multi-station IMS infrasound data were utilized along with a machine-learning supported stochastic model, Delay-SDE-net, to demonstrate how a near-real-time estimate of the polar-cap averaged zonal wind at 1-hPa pressure level can be found from infrasound data. The infrasound was filtered to a temporal low-frequency regime dominated by microbaroms, which are ambient-noise infrasonic waves continuously radiated into the atmosphere from nonlinear interaction between counter-propagating ocean surface waves. Delay-SDE-net was trained on 5 years (2014–2018) of infrasound data from three stations and the ERA5 reanalysis 1-hPa polar-cap averaged zonal wind. Using infrasound in 2019–2020 for validation, we demonstrate a prediction of the polar-cap averaged zonal wind, with an error standard deviation of around 12 m·s compared with ERA5. These findings highlight the potential of using infrasound data for near-real-time measurements of upper stratospheric dynamics. A long-term goal is to improve high-top atmospheric model accuracy, which can have significant implications for weather and climate prediction.
John Wiley & Sons
2024
Impact of Biomass Burning on Arctic Aerosol Composition
Emissions from biomass burning (BB) occurring at midlatitudes can reach the Arctic, where they influence the remote aerosol population. By using measurements of levoglucosan and black carbon, we identify seven BB events reaching Svalbard in 2020. We find that most of the BB events are significantly different to the rest of the year (nonevents) for most of the chemical and physical properties. Aerosol mass and number concentrations are enhanced by up to 1 order of magnitude during the BB events. During BB events, the submicrometer aerosol bulk composition changes from an organic- and sulfate-dominated regime to a clearly organic-dominated regime. This results in a significantly lower hygroscopicity parameter κ for BB aerosol (0.4 ± 0.2) compared to nonevents (0.5 ± 0.2), calculated from the nonrefractory aerosol composition. The organic fraction in the BB aerosol showed no significant difference for the O:C ratios (0.9 ± 0.3) compared to the year (0.9 ± 0.6). Accumulation mode particles were present during all BB events, while in the summer an additional Aitken mode was observed, indicating a mixture of the advected air mass with locally produced particles. BB tracers (vanillic, homovanillic, and hydroxybenzoic acid, nitrophenol, methylnitrophenol, and nitrocatechol) were significantly higher when air mass back trajectories passed over active fire regions in Eastern Europe, indicating agricultural and wildfires as sources. Our results suggest that the impact of BB on the Arctic aerosol depends on the season in which they occur, and agricultural and wildfires from Eastern Europe have the potential to disturb the background conditions the most.
American Chemical Society (ACS)
2024
Life starts with plastic: High occurrence of plastic pieces in fledglings of northern fulmars
Plastic pollution threatens many organisms around the world. In particular, the northern fulmar, Fulmarus glacialis, is known to ingest high quantities of plastics. Since data are sparse in the Eurasian Arctic, we investigated plastic burdens in the stomachs of fulmar fledglings from Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. Fifteen birds were collected and only particles larger than 1 mm were extracted, characterised and analysed with Fourier Transform InfraRed spectroscopy. All birds ingested plastic. In total, 683 plastic particles were found, with an average of 46 ± 40 SD items per bird. The most common shape, colour and polymer were hard fragment, white, and polyethylene, respectively. Microplastics ( 5 mm). This study confirms high numbers of ingested plastics in fulmar fledglings from Svalbard and suggests that fulmar fledglings may be suitable for temporal monitoring of plastic pollution, avoiding potential biases caused by age composition or breeding state.
Elsevier
2024
This study investigates the impact of meteorological variations on the long-term patterns of PM2.5 in Delhi from 2007 to 2022 using the AirGAM 2022r1 model. Generalized Additive Modeling was employed to analyze meteorology-adjusted (removing the influence of inter-annual variations in meteorology) and unadjusted trends (trends without considering meteorology) while addressing auto-correlation. PM2.5 levels showed a modest decline of 14 μg m−3 unadjusted and 18 μg m−3 meteorology-adjusted over the study period. Meteorological conditions and time factors significantly influenced trends. Temperature, wind speed, wind direction, humidity, boundary layer height, medium-height cloud cover, precipitation, and time variables including day-of-week, day-of-year, and overall time, were used as GAM model inputs. The model accounted for 55% of PM2.5 variability (adjusted R-squared = 0.55). Day-of-week and medium-height cloud cover were non-significant, while other covariates were significant (p
Elsevier
2024
Active vegetation fires in south-eastern (SE) Europe resulted in a notable increase in the number concentration of aerosols and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) particles at two high latitude locations—the SMEAR IV station in Kuopio, Finland, and the Zeppelin Observatory in Svalbard, high Arctic. During the fire episode aerosol hygroscopicity κ slightly increased at SMEAR IV and at the Zeppelin Observatory κ decreased. Despite increased κ in high CCN conditions at SMEAR IV, the aerosol activation diameter increased due to the decreased supersaturation with an increase in aerosol loading. In addition, at SMEAR IV during the fire episode, in situ measured cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC) increased by a factor of ∼7 as compared to non-fire periods which was in good agreement with the satellite observations (MODIS, Terra). Results from this study show the importance of SE European fires for cloud properties and radiative forcing in high latitudes.
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2024
The Greenhouse Gas Budget of Terrestrial Ecosystems in East Asia Since 2000
East Asia (China, Japan, Koreas, and Mongolia) has been the world's economic engine over at least the past two decades, exhibiting a rapid increase in fossil fuel emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and has expressed the recent ambition to achieve climate neutrality by mid-century. However, the GHG balance of its terrestrial ecosystems remains poorly constrained. Here, we present a synthesis of the three most important long-lived greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, and N2O) budgets over East Asia during the decades of 2000s and 2010s, following a dual constraint approach. We estimate that terrestrial ecosystems in East Asia is close to neutrality of GHGs, with a magnitude of between −46.3 ± 505.9 Tg CO2eq yr−1 (the top-down approach) and −36.1 ± 207.1 Tg CO2eq yr−1 (the bottom-up approach) during 2000–2019. This net GHG sink includes a large land CO2 sink (−1229.3 ± 430.9 Tg CO2 yr−1 based on the top-down approach and −1353.8 ± 158.5 Tg CO2 yr−1 based on the bottom-up approach) being offset by biogenic CH4 and N2O emissions, predominantly coming from the agricultural sectors. Emerging data sources and modeling capacities have helped achieve agreement between the top-down and bottom-up approaches, but sizable uncertainties remain in several flux terms. For example, the reported CO2 flux from land use and land cover change varies from a net source of more than 300 Tg CO2 yr−1 to a net sink of ∼−700 Tg CO2 yr−1. Although terrestrial ecosystems over East Asia is close to GHG neutral currently, curbing agricultural GHG emissions and additional afforestation and forest managements have the potential to transform the terrestrial ecosystems into a net GHG sink, which would help in realizing East Asian countries' ambitions to achieve climate neutrality.
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2024
Modelled sources of airborne microplastics collected at a remote Southern Hemisphere site
Airborne microplastics have emerged in recent years as ubiquitous atmospheric pollutants. However, data from the Southern Hemisphere, and remote regions in particular, are sparse. Here, we report airborne microplastic deposition fluxes measured during a five-week sampling campaign at a remote site in the foothills of the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Samples were collected over 24-hour periods for the first week and for 7-day periods thereafter. On average, atmospheric microplastic (MP) deposition fluxes were six times larger during the 24-hour sampling periods (150 MP m−2 day−1) than during the 7-day sampling periods (26 MP m−2 day−1), highlighting the importance of sampling frequency and deposition collector design to limit particle resuspension. Previous studies, many of which used weekly sampling frequencies or longer, may have substantially underestimated atmospheric microplastic deposition fluxes, depending on the study design. To identify likely sources of deposited microplastics, we performed simulations with a global dispersion model coupled with an emissions inventory of airborne microplastics. Modelled deposition fluxes are in good agreement with observations, highlighting the potential for this method in tracing sources of deposited microplastics globally. Modelling indicates that sea-spray was the dominant source when microplastics underwent long-range atmospheric transport, with a small contribution from road dust.
Elsevier
2024
Can plastic related chemicals be indicators of plastic ingestion in an Arctic seabird?
For decades, the northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) has been found to ingest and accumulate high loads of plastic due to its feeding ecology and digestive tract morphology. Plastic ingestion can lead to both physical and toxicological effects as ingested plastics can be a pathway for hazardous chemicals into seabirds' tissues. Many of these contaminants are ubiquitous in the environment and the contribution of plastic ingestion to the uptake of those contaminants in seabirds’ tissues is poorly known. In this study we aimed at quantifying several plastic-related chemicals (PRCs) -PBDE209, several dechloranes and several phthalate metabolites- and assessing their relationship with plastic burdens (both mass and number) to further investigate their potential use as proxies for plastic ingestion. Blood samples from fulmar fledglings and liver samples from both fledgling and non-fledgling fulmars were collected for PRC quantification. PBDE209 and dechloranes were quantified in 39 and 33 livers, respectively while phthalates were quantified in plasma. Plastic ingestion in these birds has been investigated previously and showed a higher prevalence in fledglings. PBDE209 was detected in 28.2 % of the liver samples. Dechlorane 602 was detected in all samples while Dechloranes 601 and 604 were not detected in any sample. Dechlorane 603 was detected in 11 individuals (33%). Phthalates were detected in one third of the analysed blood samples. Overall, no significant positive correlation was found between plastic burdens and PRC concentrations. However, a significant positive relationship between PBDE209 and plastic number was found in fledglings, although likely driven by one outlier. Our study shows the complexity of PRC exposure, the timeline of plastic ingestion and subsequent uptake of PRCs into the tissues in birds, the additional exposure of these chemicals via their prey, even in a species ingesting high loads of plastic.
Elsevier
2024
Air pollution is an important cause of adverse health effects, even in the Nordic countries, which have relatively good air quality. Modelling-based air quality assessment of the health impacts relies on reliable model estimates of ambient air pollution concentrations, which furthermore rely on good-quality spatially resolved emission data. While quantitative emission estimates are the cornerstone of good emission data, description of the spatial distribution of the emissions is especially important for local air quality modelling at high resolution. In this paper we present a new air pollution emission inventory for the Nordic countries with high-resolution spatial allocation (1 km × 1 km) covering the years 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2012, and 2014. The inventory is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10571094 (Paunu et al., 2023). To study the impact of applying national data and methods to the spatial distribution of the emissions, we compared road transport and machinery and off-road sectors to CAMS-REGv4.2, which used a consistent spatial distribution method throughout Europe for each sector. Road transport is a sector with well-established proxies for spatial distribution, while for the machinery and off-road sector, the choice of proxies is not as straightforward as it includes a variety of different type of vehicles and machines operating in various environments. We found that CAMS-REGv4.2 was able to produce similar spatial patterns to our Nordic inventory for the selected sectors. However, the resolution of our Nordic inventory allows for more detailed impact assessment than CAMS-REGv4.2, which had a resolution of 0.1° × 0.05° (longitude–latitude, roughly 5.5 km × 3.5–6.5 km in the Nordic countries). The EMEP/EEA Guidebook chapter on spatial mapping of emissions has recommendations for the sectoral proxies. Based on our analysis we argue that the guidebook should have separate recommendations for proxies for several sub-categories of the machinery and off-road sectors, instead of including them within broader sectors. We suggest that land use data are the best starting point for proxies for many of the subsectors, and they can be combined with other suitable data to enhance the spatial distribution. For road transport, measured traffic flow data should be utilized where possible, to support modelled data in the proxies.
2024
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were analysed in a high number of terrestrial samples of soil, earthworm, bird eggs and liver from red fox and brown rat in an urban area in Norway from 2013 to 2020. PFOS and the long chain PFCAs were the most dominating compounds in all samples, proving their ubiquitous distribution. Other less studied compounds such as 6:2 FTS were first and foremost detected in earthworm. 8:2 FTS was found in many samples of fieldfare egg, sparrowhawk egg and earthworm, where the eggs had highest concentrations. Highest concentrations for both 6:2 FTS and 8:2 FTS were detected at present and former industry areas. FOSA was detected in many samples of the species with highest concentrations in red fox liver and brown rat liver of 3.3 and 5.5 ng/g ww.
PFAS concentrations from the urban area were significantly higher than from background areas indicating that some of the species can be suitable as markers for PFAS emissions in an urban environment. Fieldfare eggs had surprisingly high concentrations of PFOS and PFCA concentrations from areas known to be or have been influenced by industry. Biota-soil-accumulation factor and magnification calculations indicate accumulation and magnification potential for several PFAS.
Earthworm and fieldfare egg had average concentrations above the Canadian and European thresholds in diet for avian wildlife and predators. For earthworms, 18 % of the samples exceeded the European threshold (33 ng/g ww) of PFOS in prey for predators, and for fieldfare eggs, 35 % of the samples were above the same threshold. None of the soil samples exceeded a proposed PNEC of PFOS for soil living organisms of 373 ng/g dw.
Elsevier
2024