PER2Water – PERsistent organic pollutant remobilisation from PERmafrost into surface Waters
The main hypothesis of the PER2Water research project is that permafrost is a secondary source of persistent organic
pollutants (POPs) which are released into water during seasonal and permanent permafrost thaw. As permafrost
degradation is forecasted in the Northern Hemisphere in the 21st century, research questions emerge on the
characteristics and impacts of such a phenomenon. Within the proposed project, we plan to test whether organic
pollutants are stored in permafrost, and whether they are released into fresh waters during thaw. Furthermore,
seasonal characteristics of pollutant release and their temporal coincidence with permafrost thaw will be investigated.
Finally, the long-term impacts of the POPs release from permafrost will be explored, in the context of climate warming,
permafrost degradation, and a connection between the large-scale peatland fires and pollution release from
permafrost.
Considering that permafrost zones occupy about 25% of the exposed land area, permafrost is a likely sink for POPs.
POPs are a group of chemicals resistant to degradation, so they accumulate in the environment over long periods of
time, posing a long-term risk to ecosystems and human health; they also frequently show bioaccumulative and toxic
properties. A wider definition of POPs includes polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs),
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and many other both intentionally and unintentionally produced chemicals
(such as dioxins or furans). The ecosystems and indigenous people of the Arctic are particularly at risk because of the
preferential accumulation of these chemicals in cold regions and due to their bio-magnification. Published data shows
that the permafrost may have been heavily contaminated by some organic pollutants, e.g. historical PAHs, and the
pollutants trapped in the ice-rich permafrost layer may be released as a result of future climate warming. Furthermore,
pollution related to human activity today and in historical times may be transported across international boundaries far
from their sources, even to regions where they have never been used or produced. Especially PAHs are of interest, as
the wide area of forest and peatland fires may contribute those currently and increasingly so in the future.