Large-Scale Distribution of Dechlorane Plus in Air and Seawater from the Arctic to Antarctica

Dechlorane Plus (DP), a highly chlorinated flame retardant, was investigated in marine boundary layer air and surface seawater from East Greenland Sea and in the Northern and Southern Atlantic toward Antarctica. The concentrations of DP ranged from 0.05 to 4.2 pg m(-3) in the atmosphere and from <MDL to 1.3 pg L-1 in seawater. The occurrence of DP even in the remote areas of the Arctic and Antarctica suggests that DP is susceptible to long-range atmospheric transport (LRAT). Along the Atlantic atmosphere, the highest concentration was observed in the English Channel originating from continental air passing Western Europe indicating Western Europe as source region of DP in the marine environment Thereby, the fractional abundance of the syn isomer (f(syn)) increased with decreasing northern latitude from 0.37 which is close to the commercial mixture (f(syn) = 0.32) to similar to 0.67 showing a stereoselective depletion of the anti isomer likely caused by UV-sunlight during LRAT. In addition, two degradation products ([-1Cl+1H] and [-2Cl+2H]) were detected in seawater from the Arctic. This paper presents the first report of DP in the marine environment, especially in remote areas, together with stereoselective LRAT potential.