Decline of hexachlorocyclohexane in the Arctic atmosphere and reversal of air‐sea gas exchange

Abstract

Hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) are the most abundant organochlorine pesticides in the arctic atmosphere and ocean surface water. A compilation of measurements made between 1979–93 from stations in the Canadian and Norwegian Arctic and from cruises in the Bering and Chukchi seas indicates that atmospheric concentrations of α-HCH have declined significantly (p < 0.01), with a time for 50% decrease of about 4 y in summer-fall and 6 y in winter-spring. The 1992–93 levels of about 100 pg m−3 are 2–4 fold lower than values in the mid-1980s. The trend in γ-HCH is less pronounced, but a decrease is also suggested from measurements in the Canadian Arctic and the Bering-Chukchi seas. HCHs in ocean surface water have remained relatively constant since the early 1980s. The decline in atmospheric α-HCH has reversed the net direction of air-sea gas exchange to the point where some northern waters are now sources of the pesticide to the atmosphere instead of sinks.