Study of Long Range Transported Pollutants in Arctic Soil

In this master thesis, levels of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), total organic carbon (TOC) and potentially long range transported inorganic elements (Cd, Hg and Pb) in surface soil and vegetation have been studied for samples from Svalbard (Norwegian Arctic). 74 soil and 35 vegetation samples were taken at six different sampling sites whichprovidebackgroundlevels. For measurement of PCBs in soil a method had been developed for the use of acceler atedsolventextractionandgaschromatographycoupledwithtandemmassspectrom etry. Differentcleanupmethodshavebeentested. ResultsmaintainedfromacertifiedlaboratoryshowedabundanceofPCB52insoiland vegetationsampleswithameanof3,0±1,2ng/ginsoiland5,9±2,5ng/ginvegetation. PCB 180 was found for sample sites in Leinstranda (Ny Ålesund). PCB 28 was found in twovegetationsamples. Othermeasuredcongeners(101,118,138,153)wereunderthe limitofquantification(LOQ=1ng/g). A mean concentration of Hg of 155±83 ng/g in soil and 97,4±32,8 ng/g in vegetation wasobtained,withsignificanthigherresultsforsamplesitesclosetoLongyearbyen. Hg significantly correlates with S and Cl in soil. Measured Pb levels in soil show a mean of 31,5±10,6µg/gandseemtoresultfromthesoilparentmaterial. Cdlevels(mean0,489 ± 0,295 µg/g in soil) were high correlated with TOC. Higher levels and variation was foundforCdinvegetationsamples(0,595±0,371 µg/g).