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(75-02) First Evidences of Organochlorine Compounds in Ice Melting Water from Two Alpine Glaciers. Villa, Sara*,1, Finizio, Antonio1, Thomas, Gareth2, Negrelli, Christian1, Vighi, Marco1, 1 Università degli studi di Milano Bicocca, Milano, Italy2 Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK ABSTRACT- High mountains act as cold condensers for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that can be accumulated in alpine glaciers, but glaciers are not permanent sinks for pollutants. During snow/ice melting, a chemical can be transferred with the melt water to the terrestrial or aquatic environment underlying the snow pack or it may volatilise back into the atmosphere. Various POP classes, such as chlorinated pesticides (DDT and its metabolites; lindane and its isomers, HCB) and PCBs were analysed in melting water samples, collected close to the lobe of the Lys Glacier (Monte Rosa massif) in Gressoney Valley (the western part of the Italian Alps) and the lobe of Forni Glacier, Stelvio National Park (the central part of Italian Alps). POPs contamination was studied both in quantitative and qualitative terms taking into account the possible differences due to the various origins of the water bodies, geographical position and seasonality. The results highlight that seasons have a great influence on POPs inputs into river system and this variability is mainly due to the different dynamics of the melting process. Moreover seasonal trends in levels of POPs contamination recorded in the two torrents suggest that the Italian Alps are interesting both in terms of long range transport and local emissions phenomena. Key words: POP, alpine glacier, melting water, Italian Alps |
