Coal burning leaves toxic heavy metal legacy in the Arctic.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Joseph R McConnell, Ross Edwards

Abstract

Toxic heavy metals emitted by industrial activities in the midlatitudes are transported through the atmosphere and deposited in the polar regions; bioconcentration and biomagnification in the food chain mean that even low levels of atmospheric deposition may threaten human health and Arctic ecosystems. Little is known about sources and long-term trends of most heavy metals before approximately 1980, when modern measurements began, although heavy-metal pollution in the Arctic was widespread during recent decades. Lacking detailed, long-term measurements until now, ecologists, health researchers, and policy makers generally have assumed that contamination was highest during the 1960s and 1970s peak of industrial activity in North America and Europe. We present continuous 1772-2003 monthly and annually averaged deposition records for highly toxic thallium, cadmium, and lead from a Greenland ice core showing that atmospheric deposition was much higher than expected in the early 20th century, with tenfold increases from preindustrial levels by the early 1900s that were two to five times higher than during recent decades. Tracer measurements indicate that coal burning in North America and Europe was the likely source of these metals ...Continue Reading

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Citations

Dec 14, 2011·Environmental Science & Technology·Daniel R PasterisRoss Edwards
Jul 24, 2012·Metallomics : Integrated Biometal Science·Elham Zeini Jahromi, Jürgen Gailer
Aug 24, 2013·Environmental Science. Processes & Impacts·Evert NieboerEric N Liberda
Jul 17, 2012·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·Marc MonacheseGregor Reid
Mar 27, 2010·Arhiv za higijenu rada i toksikologiju·Petra CvjetkoMirjana Pavlica
Feb 11, 2014·Environmental Science & Technology·Anja EichlerMargit Schwikowski
Jan 1, 2014·Environmental Science & Technology·Aloys J-M BoryPierre E Biscaye
May 20, 2014·The Science of the Total Environment·Christian ZdanowiczHolger Hintelmann
Nov 4, 2011·The Science of the Total Environment·Khanghyun LeeKevin J R Rosman
Aug 12, 2009·The Science of the Total Environment·Neal MicheluttiAlexander P Wolfe
Sep 19, 2012·Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry·Heli RouttiChristian Sonne
Apr 29, 2015·The Science of the Total Environment·Khanghyun LeeSungmin Hong
Dec 4, 2012·Health & Place·Emily Morrice, Ruth Colagiuri
Aug 1, 2016·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Lanfang HanShiyan Wang
Sep 22, 2015·Scientific Reports·Guadalupe MongeGeraldine Finlayson
Dec 2, 2014·Scientific Reports·Fasong YuanCheryl Soltis-Muth
May 20, 2017·Environmental Monitoring and Assessment·Asli BaysalGulcin Gumus
Mar 1, 2016·Environmental Pollution·Samuel K MarxNicola Stromsoe
Jan 4, 2018·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Ju HuangLongfei Xiong
Oct 7, 2017·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Xiaoyong Duan, Yanxia Li
May 16, 2018·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Joseph R McConnellJørgen Peder Steffensen
Sep 7, 2017·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Joseph R McConnellGisela Winckler
Jun 9, 2009·Ecotoxicology·Shupei Cheng, Tim Ford
Dec 22, 2009·Dalton Transactions : an International Journal of Inorganic Chemistry·Elham Zeini Jahromi, Jürgen Gailer
Jul 10, 2019·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Joseph R McConnellJørgen Peder Steffensen
Feb 12, 2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Paolo GabrielliLonnie G Thompson
Nov 14, 2018·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Michel LegrandLucy J Carpenter
Jun 3, 2020·Molecules : a Journal of Synthetic Chemistry and Natural Product Chemistry·Changhee HanSungmin Hong
Dec 3, 2020·Scientific Reports·Jack LongmanDaniel Veres
Nov 16, 2019·The Science of the Total Environment·Mehwish BibiShahid Iqbal
Dec 24, 2020·Annals of Global Health·Philip J LandriganPatrick Rampal

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