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type: Concept

COPOL
type: Concept
definition: Short Title: COntaminants in POLar regions (COPOL) Project URL: http://copol.net/ Proposal URL: http://classic.ipy.org/development/eoi/proposal-details.php?id=175 Introduction Contaminants have been detected both in the Antarctic Ecosystem (AAE) and in the Arctic Ecosystem (AE). It has been illustrated that in Polar Regions, concentrations of some semi-volatile contaminants may become elevated due to the cold-condensation effect. Global warming is also expected to alter contaminant dynamics and fate in polar regions although the magnitude and nature of these effects is difficult to predict. Because many of these contaminants, like organochlorines, exhibit toxicity and are persistent, they pose a risk to organisms that reside in Polar Regions. For the AE this has been shown, see for instance the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) in which some partners of the current consortium participated. For an assessment of the extent of contamination in the Polar Regions, and associated risks, information is needed on routes of transport to Polar Regions, fate of contaminants in Polar Regions and food web uptake and levels in biota, preferably combined with spatial and temporal trends. This EoI is a combined effort in order to assess this in a multi-disciplinary way, in an international consortium, focused on both Polar Regions. Within the EoI two research pillars are defined: 1) on the transport and fate of contaminants to and in Polar Regions, 2) on the food web transfer and contaminant status of higher organisms. Research pillar 1: atmospheric transport, deposition and photochemistry à input to Polar Regions In order to address the occurrence and routes of transport to Polar Regions, an international circumpolar network will be established to document contaminant deposition to terrestrial Arctic/Antarctic environments, using the moss/lichen monitoring approach and snow-sampling approaches coupled with passive POPs samplers. This network will build upon passive…
in scheme: projects