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Several different pesticides are found in Svalbard. Some of them are in
concentrations high enough to estimate that there is a ton of each of them
on all of the land ice here. Insects get here by
cargo and sometimes on strong winds from the south but the climate here is
the most effective pest killer there is. So how come the pesticides are
found in Svalbard? Several researchers from Canaa, USA and Norway have been
working together for years looking for an answer. The studies were done on
samples of snow and ice (ice cores) from Austfonna, Lomonosovfonna and
Holtedahlfonna. The ice core drilled on the top of Holtedahlfonna in 2005
delivered samples which allowed for analysis of 64 different pesticides, 21
of them were not used in Svalbard so they came here from other places.
Pesticides can travel through the atmosphere as gases
or attached to particles suspended in air. Most of them travel to Svalbard
with fast-moving winds from agricultural areas in the south and east. They
are depositioned during the precipitation events or they change from gas to
liquid in cold air. So far there is no evidence that the amount of
pesticides found here is harmful to animals or people but they have to be
watched as the numbers are constantly growing.
Thinking about the atmospheric circulation pattern it
is not surprising to find out that some regions of Svalbard are more
affected by the pesticide accumulation than others. Most of the pesticides
easily reach north-eastern parts of Svalbard. The samples from Austfonna
showed twice as many different pesticides than Holtedahlfonna in 1986-1998
period.
Some of these pesticides can be extremely dangerous to
mammals if found in food or water in high concentrations. They would
interfere with control of the nervous system, cause disruptions of some body
functions and they are considered to be carcinogens.
Source:
Pesticides in Svalbard (UNIS news)
Contact: Mark Hermanson, UNIS (mark.hermanson@unis.no) or
Elisabeth Isaksson (isaksson@npolar.no)
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