Stresa, June 2006 | Folie 1 Monitoring Network of the Alpine Region for POPs and other Organic Pollutants Stresa, June 2006

Stresa, June 2006 | Folie 1

Monitoring Network of the Alpine Region for POPs and other Organic Pollutants

Stresa, June 2006

www.monarpop.at


Germany

Project Team

Austria

Italy

Switzerland

Slovenia


Project Team (incl. subcontractors)

Austrian Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics Austrian Federal Environment Agency – Project Management Austrian Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water

Resources - Leadpartner Bavarian State Ministry for Environment, Health and Consumer

Protection German Federal Environmental Agency GSF - National Research Center for Environment and Health INCA Laboratory, Veneto Institute of Organic Analytical Chemistry, Univ. Basel Regional Agency for Environmental Protection of Lombardia Regional Agency for Environmental Prevention and Protection of

Veneto Slovenian Forestry Institute Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research


The Reasons why


To gain information on the pollution load in the Alps

carry out steps of awareness raising, information and implementation

to protect the rich natural heritage in the Alpsas a clean and healthy environment.

The Reasons why


are a heterogeneous group of biologically harmful compounds

are toxic to organisms including humans

They degrade slowly and accumulate in organic matter and in organisms.

Some POPs are commercially produced, others are undesired by-products of industry, transport or domestic needs.

The Reasons why: POPs


MONARPOP includes all compounds which are listed and laid-down in the UNEP Stockholm Convention on POPs and in the UN-ECE Protocol on POPs.

MONARPOP focuses as well on possible new POPs and upcoming pollutants.

The screening includes PCB, polybrominated biphenylethers (PBDE used as flame retardents), combustion products (dioxins and furans, PAH) and various Organochlorine pesticides (OCP), Short chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCP), selected chlorinated hydrocarbons

Additional selected samples: perfluorinated compounds (PFOS), and Nonylphenol

The Reasons why: POPs


Alpine regions have unfavourable conditions with regard to the POP input:

Barrier effects for long-range transported air masses

Higher precipitation at higher altitudes more deposition

Higher wind velocities at higher altitudes

more deposition

Lower temperatures at higher altitudes

cold condensation, less volatilisation and

less degradation of POPs

The Reasons why


Information on the load of alpine regions with POPs are scarce

First results reveal that alpine regions might be an important sink for POPs

Higher located areas seem to have higher concentrations of POPs

Unfavourable conditions of alpine regions with regard to the input of POPs

Requirements of the UN-ECE POPs-Protocol (1998) and the UNEP Stockholm Convention on POPs (2001) for monitoring and research

MONARPOP project

Starting point


MONARPOP goals are:

Identifying the long-range transport and the load with POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants) and other organic compounds in remote alpine regions.

Identifying regional differences and altitudinal effects on the load with POPs and other organic compounds.

Establishing mass inventories of POPs bound in forests in the alpine region (soil and needles).

Finding indications for sources of the POPs detected in alpine regions.

The Project Design


MONARPOP goals are:

Investigating possible effects and biological impacts of the detected loads (bioassay tests, analysis of enzyme activities).

To provide information to the decision makers and to establish a monitoring tool which will allow by future reassessments to control the success of the POP convention

The Project Design


The Project Design

Sampling Sites:

Geographical and altitude distribution

Weißfluhjoch2966m

Zugspitze3000m

Sonnblick3106m

m a

.s.l


The Project Design

Altitude profiles:

1/2-year old needles, humus layer

Air and deposition sampling

semipermeable membranes

mineral soil 0-10 cm42

3

19


The Project Design

Why forests?

Main terrestrial sink for such compounds

Prevailing ecosystem type in the alpine region

Rich in species and a lot of important functions (e.g. drinking water supply, recreative features, protection from avalanches, mudflows)

No disturbance by soil tilling or pesticides; biomass harvesting is rare. Therefore, detected loads origin only from atmospheric inputs.


Sampling of Terrestrial Matrices


Sampling of Terrestrial Matrices

Humus/soil and needle sampling:


Sampling of Airborne Pollutants



AustriaSonnblick 3106m

SwitzerlandWeißfluhjoch 2663m

GermanyZugspitze 2650m

Air samplers are installed at three meteorological stations:




4 filters at each sampler are used to distinguish between pollutant imports from different regions.The Austrian Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics determines the travel routes (trajectories) of the incoming air masses.

Active Sampling:

Filter 1 – Air masses from Northwest and West: Examples for source regions: Great Britain, Germany

Filter 2 – Air masses from Northeast: Examples for source regions: Czech Republic, Poland, Baltic region

Filter 3 – Air masses from Southwest, South and Southeast: Examples for source regions: Africa, Spain, Italy, Adria

Filter 4 – Air masses from Cleanair regions: Examples for source regions: Atlantic sea, Polar regions


Sampling of Ambient Air

Sampling equipment

developed by

Austrian Federal Environment Agency

and

German GSF National Research Center for Environment and Health

in cooperation with the manufacturers

Dioxin Monitoring Systems,

DIGITEL enviro-sense

and

Kroneis


The Low Volume sampler



The High Volume sampler



Deposition sampler

Sampling of Bulk Deposition


SPMD Samplers

SPMD in meteorological cabins


Installation of Air and Deposition Sampler





Sampling Site for Airborne Pollutants



Sonnblick, 9. May 2005


Zugspitze, 20. December 2005


Sonnblick, 7. December 2005


Outlook

One example: First detection of chlorinated paraffins in needles (Iozza et al., Institute of Organic Analytical Chemistry, Univ. Basel)

First outcomes and results are expected in 2006

Chromatogram Plots

4 5 6 7 8 9minutes

0

25

50

75

100

125

MCounts

10

20

30

40

MCounts

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

MCounts

RIC 3 NDLIT042-FR2 CPs-1-20-2006.XMS 1200 CENTROID FILTERED (+) EI SRM 102.0 > 67.0 (-10.0 eV)

RIC 3 NDLCH012-FR2 CPs-1-20-2006.xms 1200 CENTROID FILTERED (+) EI SRM 102.0 > 67.0 (-10.0 eV)

RIC 3 std002_s+m+lccps_6-17-2005.xms 1200 CENTROID FILTERED (+) EI SRM 102.0 > 67.0 (-10.0 eV)

non-volatile longchain

chlorinated paraffins


Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the following project partners for the great cooperation and their efforts to install this monitoring network

Rodolfo Bassan, Claudio Belis, Dieter Heublein, Saverio Iozza, Thomas Jakl, Gert Jakobi, Manfred Kirchner, Wilhelm Knoth,

Norbert Kräuchi, Walkiria Levy-Lopez, Teresa Magnani, Wolfgang Moche, Michael Oehme, Ivo Offenthaler, Barbara Perthen-Palmisano, David Schmid, Karl-Werner Schramm,

Helga Schrott, Peter Schröder, Isabella Sedivy, Primož Simončič, Peter Weiss, Ursa Vilhar

MONARPOP is funded by the EU-Interreg-IIIb “Alpine Space Programme” and by national funds from several project partners

Documents

Stresa, June 2006 | Folie 1 Monitoring Network of the Alpine Region for POPs and other Organic Pollutants Stresa, June 2006