Assessment of persistent organic pollutant in the atmosphere of Latin America

Abstract

The widespread use and distribution of pesticides, industrial and urban chemicals and their consequent release into the environment is of great worldwide relevance. Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are stable organic chemicals, toxic and bioaccumulative, that undergo long-range atmospheric transport. The Latin American Atmospheric Passive Sampling Network (PROSUL-LAPAN), includes a monitoring program involving the use of pine needles and passive samplers. Passive samplers (XAD-2) are currently deployed covering 50 sites, and 30 more are expected to be installed. The network includes Antarctica and 12 countries from South America including urban, agricultural and industrial areas. Additionally, Pine needles (Pinus sp.) were used to evaluate latitudinal and longitudinal transport of POPs in central and Patagonian regions of Argentina and the southeast of Brazil with a 20-station network. Endosulfan was the main pesticide found, however p,p´-DDE, the p,p´-DDT metabolite, was also found in all sites independently of particular sources as a consequence of its intensive historical use in the region. Through the implementation of this project, new knowledge regarding the magnitude of contamination and sources of POPs in Latin America will be generated leading to more informed regulatory decisions.