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Article
Contributions of Long-Range and Regional Atmospheric Transport on Pesticide Concentrations Along a Transect Crossing a Mountain Divide.
Environmental Science and Technology
  • Karen S. Lavin, University of Otago
  • Kimberly J. Hageman, Utah State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-19-2012
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Abstract

Twenty-one halogenated legacy and current-use pesticides and pesticide degradation products were measured in pine needles along a coast-to-coast transect that crossed the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Concentration profiles of nine pesticides were used to determine the influence of geographic sources on the atmospheric pesticide burden at the mountain sites. Pesticide concentration profiles were calculated for each source and mountain site by normalizing concentrations (adjusted for temperature at the site and air–needle partitioning) to the sum of all pesticide concentrations at the site. Each mountain site profile was compared to varying mixtures of the potential source profiles to determine the percent contribution of each source. The highest elevation mountain sites were primarily influenced by long-range, synoptic-scale northwesterly winds. Westerly upslope winds had little influence on any of the mountain sites. Easterly upslope winds from the Canterbury Plains, an agricultural region, strongly influenced the mountain sites within close proximity and had progressively less influence with distance.

Citation Information
Contributions of long-range and regional atmospheric transport on pesticide concentrations along a transect crossing a mountain divide. (2013) Lavin, K.S., Hageman, K.J. Environmental Science and Technology 47, 1390-1398.