Correlation between Global Emissions of α-hexachlorocyclohexane and Its Concentrations in the Arctic Air

Abstract

The mean air concentrations of α-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) in the Arctic responded quickly to the change of global α-HCH emissions from 1979 to the early 1990, and the air concentrations in the Arctic and global emissions of α-HCH are strongly correlated with correlation coefficient r² = 0.90. The quick response and the strong correlation indicate that atmospheric long-range transport was the dominant pathway for α-HCH to enter arctic air before early 1990s. An equation is derived from the least-square equation to calculate the annual concentrations of α-HCH in arctic air from global annual α-HCH emissions between 1945 and 1990, and the results indicate that a reasonable estimate of historical air concentration of α-HCH in the Arctic can be inferred from the global emission data.

Keywords: Arctic, concentration, correlation, emission, HCH, organochlorine pesticides, pathway, pesticides