Persistent Organic Pollutants in Barents Sea Bottom Sediments

Long-term observation data (2003-2018) of 625 stations were analyzed to determine the distribution of organochlorine pesticides (DDT, hexachlorobenzene, and hexachlorocyclohexane) and polychlorbiphenyls in bottom sediments of the Barents Sea. The concentrations of pollutants were analyzed for the sea as a whole and separately for six chosen regions: Spitsbergen shelf, Medvezhinskii trough, Northeastern Region, Southeastern Region (the Pechora Sea), the Central Basin, and Kola Bay region. The data were processed with the use of methods of mathematical statistics and GIS-analysis in the ArcView environment (ESRI). Maps of the concentration distributions of the examined pollutants are given. The most polluted were sediments in the central depression and Kola Bay area (including Western Murman), and the least polluted were those in the Southeastern region. The central depression was found to be the main region of pollution deposition in the Barents Sea. A considerable portion of pesticides and PCBs is likely to be the accumulated old pollution that enters the sea because of melting of firn and perennial ice in the Arctic.

Automated summary

Analysis of long-term observation data from 625 stations (2003-2018) in the Barents Sea revealed varying distribution of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorbiphenyls in bottom sediments, with the central depression and Kola Bay area showing the highest pollution levels and the Southeastern region the least contaminated. The central depression was identified as the main region of pollution deposition in the Barents Sea, with a significant amount of pollutants likely originating from accumulated old pollution due to melting of Arctic ice.