This work focuses on the reconstruction of the anthropogenic fingerprint over the last 150 years through the analysis of organic compounds preserved in Antarctic ice. The ice core (length: 50 m; diameter: 100 mm) was retrieved at GV7 during the 2013/14 austral summer campaign. This is an ideal archive for studying the "Great Acceleration" since it spans the last 150 years and it was extracted in a highly significant site. The GV7 site (70°41'S, 158°51' E, 1950 m a.s.l.) presents a high snow accumulation rate (241 ± 13 mm we yr-1) which ensures high temporal resolution. Indeed, this feature is not easily found in archives covering such a recent period and it is crucial for performing high-resolution analyses on trace organic compounds that require relatively large amounts of matrix. In the last decades, several pollutants have been subject to international bans and restrictions aimed at reducing their industrial production due to their high toxicity and persistence in the environment. As a result, limitations on one compound have led to increased industrial emissions of other pollutants. The recently developed multi-proxy analytical method for snow and ice samples employed in this work enables to detect trends in well-established and emerging pollutants preserved in the ice resulting from successive international bans on several POPs. Furthermore, volatile personal care products can provide information about changes in household habits. Specifically, fragrances from domestic sources have exponentially increased over the past 50 years. Therefore, the unprecedent high-resolution study of these substances in Antarctic ice enables one to recognize the evolution of single compounds over time, in response to international agreements and social changes. Thus, the anthropogenic signal is mainly described by semi-volatile and highly persistent tracers which are carried over long distances in the atmosphere to the polar regions, where they accumulate as result of cold condensation processes. Trace organic compounds were determined by using solid-phase extraction (SPE) combined with gas chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). The samples preparation was carried out entirely in a stainless-steel cleanroom to minimize organic contamination, achieve low detection limits and increase the analytical signal.
The anthropogenic footprint through a high-resolution analysis of trace organic compounds in an Antarctic ice core
Giulia Genuzio;Marco Vecchiato;Elena Argiriadis;Andrea Spolaor;Massimo Frezzotti;Rita Traversi;Barbara Stenni;Jacopo Gabrieli;Carlo Barbante;Gabriele Capodaglio
2023
Abstract
This work focuses on the reconstruction of the anthropogenic fingerprint over the last 150 years through the analysis of organic compounds preserved in Antarctic ice. The ice core (length: 50 m; diameter: 100 mm) was retrieved at GV7 during the 2013/14 austral summer campaign. This is an ideal archive for studying the "Great Acceleration" since it spans the last 150 years and it was extracted in a highly significant site. The GV7 site (70°41'S, 158°51' E, 1950 m a.s.l.) presents a high snow accumulation rate (241 ± 13 mm we yr-1) which ensures high temporal resolution. Indeed, this feature is not easily found in archives covering such a recent period and it is crucial for performing high-resolution analyses on trace organic compounds that require relatively large amounts of matrix. In the last decades, several pollutants have been subject to international bans and restrictions aimed at reducing their industrial production due to their high toxicity and persistence in the environment. As a result, limitations on one compound have led to increased industrial emissions of other pollutants. The recently developed multi-proxy analytical method for snow and ice samples employed in this work enables to detect trends in well-established and emerging pollutants preserved in the ice resulting from successive international bans on several POPs. Furthermore, volatile personal care products can provide information about changes in household habits. Specifically, fragrances from domestic sources have exponentially increased over the past 50 years. Therefore, the unprecedent high-resolution study of these substances in Antarctic ice enables one to recognize the evolution of single compounds over time, in response to international agreements and social changes. Thus, the anthropogenic signal is mainly described by semi-volatile and highly persistent tracers which are carried over long distances in the atmosphere to the polar regions, where they accumulate as result of cold condensation processes. Trace organic compounds were determined by using solid-phase extraction (SPE) combined with gas chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). The samples preparation was carried out entirely in a stainless-steel cleanroom to minimize organic contamination, achieve low detection limits and increase the analytical signal.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
