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(M/EH100) Validation of a novel snow sampling and extraction technique for Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP's). Fitzpatrick, Lisa1, Jones, Kevin1, Halsall, Crispin1, 1 ABSTRACT- Recent studies have shown that snow is an extremely efficient scavenger of organic contaminants (both particle and vapour phases) from the atmosphere. Snow may therefore serve as a reservoir for organic pollutants in northerly latitudes. Previous studies on the sampling and extraction of snow for organics are varied. At present, a standard protocol for sampling and extraction of organic species in snow does not exist. Snow is an inherently difficult matrix to analyse, not least because it is highly heterogeneous, and subject to metamorphosis after deposition. During the melting procedure, there is also a high potential for the loss of more volatile/low solubility compounds back to the gas phase. This loss is not assessed; hence, the variation in data from different field campaigns is often high. As part of a larger project to understand the accumulation and behaviour of POP's in snow, a novel snow sampling procedure (gas tight tubes) and extraction protocol (solid phase extraction disks) has been developed. The technique focuses on the sampling and melting of snow in gas-tight steel tubes. This procedure aims to quantify the contaminants in the meltwater, as well as any loss of vapours from the snow during the melting procedure. A complete measure of a semi-volatile contaminant is therefore performed. Key words: snow, organics, meltwater, vapour loss |
