Transfer function of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the atmosphere to the polar ice—I. Determination of atmospheric concentrations at dye 3, Greenland

Abstract

Preliminary measurements of the gaseous and particulate fractions of atmospheric PAH have been performed in winter and spring during the DGASP program on the Greenland Ice Sheet. The results indicate the absence of gaseous fraction (<0.5 pg m⁻³) associated with very lw concentrations restricted to heavy compounds only (18–200 pg m⁻³ for total PAH) in the particulate phase; the repartition of the various PAH is very stable from one sample to another, indicative of near-complete reaction allowed by long transport time. Nevertheless, discrimination of the specific signal from the different sources involved may have been impaired by the long sampling time used.