Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

POPs in Mountain Soils from the Alps and Andes: Suggestions for a ‘Precipitation Effect’ on Altitudinal Gradients

  • Published:
Water, Air, and Soil Pollution Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

POPs are still a priority environmental problem, but can be used as a scientific tool for understanding the distribution phenomena. Both high mountains and polar areas are seen as priority zones for contamination studies. In this context, two altitudinal series of soil samples were analysed for several classes of Persistent Organic Pollutants (PCBs, DDTs, HCHs, HCB and chlordane). Two transects were carried out – one in the Peruvian Andes (Cordillera Blanca) and the other in the Italian Alps (Mount Legnone). In these two areas, POP composition and levels both gave different results, linked to regional emission history. The Italian samples were characterized by high levels of industrial type compounds, and by surprisingly high DDT contamination, due to a defined consistent local source in Northern Italy. The Peruvian samples, on the other hand, were characterized by generally low POP levels with relatively high DDT contamination. The concentration increase in line with elevation was evident only in the Italian transect, where higher precipitation intensities and an increasingly higher precipitation gradient in accordance with altitude was found present. Precipitations are considered a key factor for enhancing the condensation effect at high altitudes and for reducing summer revolatilisation, as they lower soil temperature. In the Italian altitudinal gradient, evidence of fractionation processes, with a shift of the PCB composition towards less chlorinated congeners, and a vegetation effect with a mean woodland/grassland enrichment factor between 2 and 4 were also observed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bailey, R. E. (2001). Global hexachlorobenzene emissions. Chemosphere, 43, 167–182.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barra, R., Colombo, J. C., Eguren, G., Gamboa, N., Jardim, W. F., & Mendoza, G. (2005). Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Eastern and Western South American countries. Review on Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 185, 1–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Binelli, A., Bacchetta, R., Vailati, G., Galassi, S., & Provini, A. (2001a). DDT contamination in Lake Maggiore (N. Italy) and effects on zebra mussel spawning. Chemosphere, 45, 409–415.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Binelli, A., Galassi, S., & Provini, A. (2001b). Factor affecting the use of Dreissena polymorpha as a bioindicator: The PCB pollution in Lake Como (N. Italy). Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 125, 19–32.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blais, J. M., Charpentié, S., Pick, F., Kimpe, L. E., Amand, A. S., & Regnault-Roger, C. (2006). Mercury, polybrominated diphenyl ether, organochlorine pesticide, and polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations in fish from lakes along an elevation transect in the French Pyrénées. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 63, 91–99.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blais, J. M., Schindler, D. W., Muir, D. C. G., Kimpe, L. E., Donald, D. B., & Rosenberg, B. (1998). Accumulation of persistent organochlorine compounds in mountains of western Canada. Nature, 395, 585–588.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Borghini, F., Grimalt, J. O., Sanchez-Hernandez, J. C., Barra, R., Torres Garcìa, C. J., & Focardi, S. (2005). Organochlorine compounds in the soils and sediments of the mountain Andes Lakes. Environmental Pollution, 136, 253–266.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Breivik, K., Alcock, R., Li, Y., Bailey, R. E., Fiedler, H., & Pacyna, J. M. (2004). Primary sources of selected POPs: Regional and global scale emission inventories. Environmental Pollution, 128, 3–16.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Breivik, K., Pacyna, J. M., & Münch, J. (1999). Use of α-, β- and γ-hexachlorocyclohexane in Europe, 1970–1996. The Science of the Total Environment, 239, 151–163.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Breivik, K., Sweetman, A., Pacyna, J. M., & Jones, K. C. (2002). Towards a global historical emission inventory for selected PCB congeners – A mass balance approach. 1. Global production and consumption. The Science of the Total Environment, 290, 181–198.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Calamari, D., Bacci, E., Focardi, S., Gaggi, C., Morosini, M., & Vighi, M. (1991). Role of plant biomass in the global environmental partitioning of chlorinated hydrocarbons. Environmental Science & Technology, 25, 1489–1495.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Calamari, D., Tremolada, P., Di Guardo, A., & Vighi, M. (1994). Chlorinated hydrocarbons in pine needles in Europe: Fingerprint for the past and recent use. Environmental Science & Technology, 28, 429–434.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Daly, G. L., & Wania, F. (2005). Organic contaminants in mountains. Environmental Science & Technology, 39, 385–398.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, D. A., Wilkinson, A. C., Blais, J. M., Kimpe, L. E., McDonald, K. M., & Schindler, D. W. (2003). Orographic cold-trapping of persistent organic pollutants by vegetation in mountains of Western Canada. Environmental Science & Technology, 37, 209–215.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Finizio, A., Villa, S., Raffaele, F., & Vighi, M. (2006). Variation of POP concentrations in fresh-fallen snow and air on an Alpine glacier (Monte Rosa). Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 63, 25–32.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Galassi, S. (1992). Organic micropollutants in lake waters and sediments. Memorie dell’Istituto Italiano di Idrobiologia, 50, 481–491.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galassi, S., Valsecchi, S., & Tartari, G. A. (1997). The distribution of PCB’s and chlorinated pesticides in two connected himalayan lakes. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 99, 717–725.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grimalt, J. O., Borghini, F., Sanchez-Hernandez, J. C., Barra, R., Torres Garcìa, C. J., & Focardi, S. (2004). Temperature dependence of the distribution of organochlorine compounds in the mosses of the Andean Mountains. Environmental Science & Technology, 38, 5386–5392.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grimalt, J. O., Fernandez, P., Berdie, L., Vilanova, R. M., Catalan, J., & Psenner, R., et al. (2001). Selective trapping of organochlorine compounds in mountain lakes of temperate areas. Environmental Science & Technology, 35, 2690–2697.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grimalt, J. O., & van Drooge, B. L. (2006). Polychlorinated biphenyls in mountain pine (Pinus uncinata) needles from central Pyrenean high mountains (Catalonia, Spain). Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 63, 61–67.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hageman, K. J., Simonich, S. L., Campbell, D. H., Wilson, G. R., & Landers, D. H. (2006). Atmospheric deposition of current-use and historic-use pesticides in snow at National Parks in the Western United States. Environmental Science & Technology, 40, 3174–3180.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harner, T., Wideman, J. L., Jantunen, L. M. M., Bidleman, T. F., & Parkhurst, W. J. (1999). Residues of organochlorine pesticides in Alabama soils. Environmental Pollution, 106, 323–332.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Herbert, B. M. J., Villa, S., & Halsall, C. J. (2006). Chemical interactions with snow: Understanding the behaviour and fate of semi-volatile organic compounds in snow. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 63, 3–16.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Horstmann, M., & McLachlan, M. S. (1996). Evidence of a novel mechanism of semivolatile organic compound deposition in coniferous forests. Environmental Science & Technology, 30, 1794–1796.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Horstmann, M., & McLachlan, M. S. (1997). Sampling bulk deposition of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans. Atmospheric Environment, 31, 2977–2982.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Horstmann, M., & McLachlan, M. S. (1998). Atmospheric deposition of semivolatile organic compounds to two forest canopies. Atmospheric Environment, 32, 1799–1809.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • ISSS, ISRIC, FAO (1998). World Reference Base for soil resources (WRB). ISSS, ISRIC, FAO.

  • Lei, Y. D., & Wania, F. (2004). Is rain or snow a more efficient scavenger of organic chemicals? Atmospheric Environment, 38, 3557–3571.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • LeNoir, J. S., McConnell, L. L., Fellers, G. M., Cahill, T. M., & Seiber, J. N. (1999). Summertime transport of current-use pesticides from California’s Central Valley to the Sierra Nevada mountain range, USA. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 18, 2715–2722.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li, N., Wania, F., Lei, Y. D., & Daly, G. L. (2003). A comprehensive and critical compilation, evaluation, and selection of physical–chemical property data for selected polychlorinated biphenyls. Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data, 32, 1545–1590.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lohmann, R., Ockenden, W. A., Shears, J., & Jones, K. C. (2001). Atmospheric distribution of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), and non-ortho biphenyls (PCBs) along a North–South Atlantic transect. Environmental Science & Technology, 35, 4046–4053.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Losa, S. (2003). Valutazione del tenore di sostanza organica e di elementi in traccia (Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb) in suoli di una toposequenza alpina (Monte Legnone, SO). Dissertation. Italy: University of Milano Bicocca.

  • Mackay, D. (2001). Multimedia environmental models. Boca Raton, FL: Second Edition Lewis Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manz, M., Wenzel, K.-D., Diete, U., & Schüürmann, G. (2001). Persistent organic pollutants in agricultural soils of central Germany. The Science of the Total Environment, 277, 187–198.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McConnell, L. L., LeNoir, J. S., Datta, S., & Seiber, J. N. (1998). Wet deposition of current-use pesticides in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range, California, USA. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 17, 1908–1916.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McLachlan, M. S., & Horstmann, M. (1998). Forest as filters of airborne organic pollutants: A model. Environmental Science & Technology, 32, 413–420.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meijer, S. N., Ockenden, W. A., Sweetman, A., Breivik, K., Grimalt, J. O., & Jones, K. C. (2003). Global distribution and budget of PCBs and HCB in background surface soils: Implications for sources and environmental processes. Environmental Science & Technology, 37, 667–672.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meijer, S. N., Steinnes, E., Ockenden, W. A., & Jones, K. C. (2002). Influence of environmental variables on the spatial distribution of PCBs in Norwegian and U.K. soils: Implication for global cycling. Environmental Science & Technology, 36, 2146–2153.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nizzetto, L., Cassani, C., & Di Guardo, A. (2006). Deposition of PCBs in mountains: The forest filter effect of different forest ecosystem types. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 63, 75–83.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Notarianni, V., Calmiera, M., Tremolada, P., Finizio, A., & Vighi, M. (1998). PCB distribution in soil and vegetation from different areas in northern Italy. Chemosphere, 37, 2839–2845.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pacyna, J. M., Breivik, K., Münch, J., & Fudala, J. (2003). European atmospheric emission of selected persistent organic pollutants, 1970–1995. Atmospheric Environment, 37, S119–S131.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pozo, K., Harner, T., Shoeib, M., Urrutia, R., Barra, R., & Parra, O., et al. (2004). Passive-sampler derived air concentrations of persistent organic pollutants on a North–South transect in Chile. Environmental Science & Technology, 38, 6529–6537.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ribes, A., Grimalt, J. O., Torres García, C. J., & Cuevas, E. (2002). Temperature and organic matter dependence of distribution of organochlorine compounds in mountain soils from the subtropical Atlantic (Teide, Tenerife Island). Environmental Science & Technology, 36, 1879–1885.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shen, L., & Wania, F. (2005). Compilation, evaluation, and selection of physical–chemical property data for organochlorine pesticides. Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data, 50, 742–768.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shen, L., Wania, F., Lei, Y. D., Teixeira, C., Muir, D. C. G., & Bidleman, T. F. (2005). Atmospheric distribution and long-range transport behaviour of organochlorine pesticides in north America. Environmental Science & Technology, 39, 409–420.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Simonich, S. L., & Hites, R. A. (1994). Importance of vegetation in removing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the atmosphere. Nature, 370, 49–51.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Simonich, S. L., & Hites, R. A. (1995). Global distribution of persistent organochlorine compounds. Science, 269, 1851–1854.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sweetman, A. J., Dalla Valle, M., Prevedouros, K., & Jones, K. C. (2005). The role of soil organic carbon in the global cycling of persistent organic pollutants (POPs): Interpreting and modelling field data. Chemosphere, 60, 959–972.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • UNEP (2001). Stockholm convention on persistent organic pollutants. Geneva, Switzerland: United Nations Environmental Programme.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vighi, M. (2006). SETAC Europe Workshop Milan, Italy, 1–3 July 2004 Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca ‘The role of high mountains in the global transport of persistent organic chemicals.’. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 63, 108–112.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Villa, S., Finizio, A., Diaz Diaz, R., & Vighi, M. (2003a). Distribution of organochlorine pesticides in pine needles of an oceanic island: The case of Tenerife (Canary Island, Spain). Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 146, 335–349.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Villa, S., Maggi, V., Negrelli, C., Finizio, A., Bolzacchini, E., & Vighi, M. (2001). Historical profile of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in an alpine glacier. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, 10, 711–716.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Villa, S., Vighi, M., Maggi, V., Finizio, A., & Bolzacchini, E. (2003b). Historical trends of organochlorine pesticides in an Alpin glacier. Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry, 46, 295–311.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wania, R., & Mackay, D. (1993). Global fractionation and cold condensation of low volatility organochlorine compounds in polar regions. AMBIO, 22, 10–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wania, R., & McLachlan, M. S. (2001). Estimating the influence of forests on the overall fate of semivolatile organic compounds using a multimedia fate model. Environmental Science & Technology, 35, 582–590.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xiao, H., Li, N., & Wania, F. (2004). Compilation, evaluation, and selection of physical–chemical property data for α-, β-, and γ-hexachlorocyclohexane. Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data, 49, 173–185.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Aknowledgement

We are very grateful to Stefano Losa for the sample collection from Mount Legnone (Italy) and to the Italian Alpine Club for its financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paolo Tremolada.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tremolada, P., Villa, S., Bazzarin, P. et al. POPs in Mountain Soils from the Alps and Andes: Suggestions for a ‘Precipitation Effect’ on Altitudinal Gradients. Water Air Soil Pollut 188, 93–109 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-007-9527-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-007-9527-5

Keywords

Navigation