Arctic Snow Accumulates Persistent Organic Toxins

An international Arctic research team has released monitoring data from field samples. The study confirms that persistent synthetic organic pollutants from major industrial regions in Europe and Asia are transported over long distances across continents via atmospheric circulation and ultimately settle in Arctic snow. Due to ongoing global warming, Arctic snow is melting at an accelerating rate, causing toxic substances that have been trapped in ice and snow for years to be continuously released into the Arctic Ocean. These pollutants are first absorbed by plankton and then accumulate through each level of the marine food chain, posing long-term health risks to flagship species such as polar bears and Arctic foxes.