Polyethylene passive samplers were simultaneously deployed in surface water and near surface atmosphere to assess sources, spatial trends and air-water exchange of organic pollutants in the Great Lakes region in 2011 and 2012. Legacy pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides, were - by and large - volatilizing from the water; hence the lower Great Lakes acted as a secondary source to the atmosphere. Yet in most cases, on-going sources affected spatial trends of legacy and emerging organic pollutants in the Great Lakes region, such as the case FOR polychlorinated biphenyls displayed in Figure 1. The geographical reach of contaminant sources depended on the compounds' physico-chemical properties; volatile compounds displayed a larger airshed than less volatile ones. Spatial distributions of freely dissolved organic pollutants in Lakes Erie and Ontario were influenced by loadings from contaminated sites and water circulation patterns.

Trends of legacy and emerging contaminants in the Great Lakes based on passive sampling of air and water

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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