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The Arctic Ocean is undergoing several transformations because of global climate change. Small microplastics (SMPs) or nanoplastics (NPs) carried by marine aerosols may settle in the land ice and be released to the waters, produced following its melting. As sea ice extent reduces and shipping and fishing activities increase, microplastics (MPs) may enter the region following ocean and maritime transports, with implications on Arctic biota, human health, and socioeconomic issues related to the exploitation of marine resources. First analyses on amphipods collected in Ny-Ålesund confirmed the presence of SMPs. Nevertheless, the threat posed by SMPs/NPs to polar biota and regional human health is not fully understood. This article addresses this issue and the need for organisms as potential bioindicators of plastic pollution, which is currently being carried out in the Svalbard region under the framework of the MICROTRACER project funded by the Italian Arctic Research Program (PRA, Call 2021). The outputs of this research are expected to contribute to deepening the current knowledge of SMPs in Svalbard, providing new insights on their occurrence, distribution, and transfer through the marine trophic web, to realize effective control and regulatory framework measures to implement an integrated multidisciplinary approach for monitoring and to reduce MPs pollution in this fragile polar environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mercury (Hg) and its compounds have long been known to be toxic to human health and theenvironment1,whilst ozone (O3) is highly relevant to the Earth’s climate, ecosystems and humanhealth2.Measurements of Hg and O3 in alpine environments are pivotal when evaluatingair quality in natural ecosystems as well as when trying to understand regionaland synoptic atmospheric transport regimes and advection of air pollutant to theAlps3.This study is crucial for the evaluation of the Hg exchange processes between soil andatmosphere in a high altitude alpine environment, where increasing Hg snowpack concentrationsoccur during winter time, followed by Hg release to the overlying atmosphere during spring andsummer4 timesnowmelt events. In this context, evaluating the gas phase reaction between elemental mercury andozone5is essential. All the experimental activities were performed at the CNR-IDPA atmosphericobservatory at Col Margherita (CMA) that is located in the Italian southeastern Alps, aUNESCO protected region far from anthropogenic and natural sources of air pollutants(altitude 2543 m a.s.l., 46˚ 22’0.6" N, 11˚ 47’30.9" E). The observatory is equipped with acomplete weather station. Total Gaseous Mercury (TGM) was measured from March toAugust 2018 using a Tekran 2537B (Tekran Inc.), a mercury analyzer that alternately samplesTGM on two gold traps and determines it using cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry(CVAFS). During the same period, near-surface O3 measurements were performed with aThermo 49c UV photometric analyzer (Thermo Corp.), according to WMO/GAW guidelines.For the purpose of the present study, daily and monthly levels of hourly Hg and O3concentrations were assessed. Relationships with meteorological parameters (T, RH, P,WS, WD, solar radiation, snow) were investigated by performing a back trajectoryatmospheric reanalysis using HYSPLIT for the duration of the measurement campaign.The results showed that Hg concentrations increase, on average, from spring tosummer, with some episodes of rapid daytime increase or decrease of atmospheric Hgthat could be related to both the O3 variability and specific weather conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-element analyses determine the content of 17 trace elements (Al, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Sr, Cd, Cs, Ba, Pb, U) and 14 rare earth elements (La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Yb, Lu, Y) in whey samples from cow and goat milk by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma-sector field mass spectrometry. A total of 261 milk whey samples were collected from four locations in the Veneto region of northeastern (NE) Italy. These samples contain a wide range concentration of 17 trace elements (0.06–1530 μg kg−1) and 14 rare earth elements (0.16–28.2 ng kg−1) in whey samples, but do not reach toxic concentrations. Elemental fingerprinting of trace and rare earth elements in cow and goat milk whey provide information on the dairy quality and, as they reflect the local environmental conditions, result in an excellent indicator of their geographical origin. Image 1 • Multi-elemental determination is performed on cow and goat milk whey samples. • Fe, Cu, Zn, Se and Sr are present in both cow and goat milk whey samples. • Levels of toxic metals such as Pb, Cd, As, and Ni include no significant content. • Cow milk whey has an important content of REEs than goat milk whey samples. • Trace elements and REEs provide useful information about geographical origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work focuses on comparing the inorganic content of tap and bottled mineral waters in the Calabria region (Southern Italy) performed by using robust Compositional Data Analysis (CoDA) methods and related new developments associated with a classical graphical-numerical approach. Thirty-one samples of tap waters scattered throughout the Calabrian territory and twenty-one bottled natural mineral waters of various Calabrian brands were analyzed for major and trace inorganic components. In addition, a very sensitive method based on cold vapour atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CV-AFS) has been employed to determine total mercury (Hg T) concentrations. Compositional data analysis was used to identify the main interrelationships among physico-chemical parameters, highlighting the differences between the tap waters and the bottled mineral waters. Some elements, such as Al, Mn, Fe, Zn, and Pb resulted particularly enriched in the tap waters. This group of enriched elements was probably controlled by corrosion processes from metal pipes, asking for more monitoring on the state of the public distribution water network. Li, Ca, Cr, Ni, and Cd, on the other hand, appear to be mostly contributed by natural sources affecting the overall variability of the bottled mineral waters. In this context, Cr, Cu, Hg, and Pb are mainly enriched in the sparkling bottled mineral waters. Innovative compositional indices did not highlight great differences from the Maximum Allowed Concentrations (MAC) in the two types of water, so that for the health of the consumer it is indifferent to drink tap or bottled mineral water. The results represent a fundamental base to develop monitoring plans in time to check for the maintenance of quality standards. • Tap waters and bottled mineral waters of various Calabrian brands were analyzed. • Cluster analysis evidenced variables related to natural and anthropic processes. • Hg has shown concentrations of different orders of magnitude lower than the remaining constituents. • Compositional analysis testified a good quality of the resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Antarctic Plateau snowpack is an important environment for the mercury geochemical cycle. We have extensively characterized and compared the changes in surface snow and atmospheric mercury concentrations that occur at Dome C. Three summer sampling campaigns were conducted between 2013 and 2016. The three campaigns had different meteorological conditions that significantly affected mercury deposition processes and its abundance in surface snow. In the absence of snow deposition events, the surface mercury concentration remained stable with narrow oscillations, while an increase in precipitation results in a higher mercury variability. The Hg concentrations detected confirm that snowfall can act as a mercury atmospheric scavenger. A high temporal resolution sampling experiment showed that surface concentration changes are connected with the diurnal solar radiation cycle. Mercury in surface snow is highly dynamic and it could decrease by up to 90% within 4/6 h. A negative relationship between surface snow mercury and atmospheric concentrations has been detected suggesting a mutual dynamic exchange between these two environments. Mercury concentrations were also compared with the Br concentrations in surface and deeper snow, results suggest that Br could have an active role in Hg deposition, particularly when air masses are from coastal areas. This research presents new information on the presence of Hg in surface and deeper snow layers, improving our understanding of atmospheric Hg deposition to the snow surface and the possible role of re-emission on the atmospheric Hg concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic acids in aerosols Earth's atmosphere are ubiquitous and they have been extensively studied across urban, rural and polar environments. However, little is known about their properties, transport, source and seasonal variations in the Svalbard Archipelago. Here, we present the annual trend of organic acids in the aerosol collected at Ny-Ålesund and consider their size-distributions to infer their possible sources and relative contributions. A series of carboxylic acids were detected with a predominance of C2-oxalic acid. Pinic acid and cis-pinonic acid were studied in order to better understand the oxidative and gas-to-particle processes occurred in the Arctic atmosphere. Since the water-soluble organic fraction is mainly composed by organic acids and ions, we investigated how the seasonal variation leads to different atmospheric transport mechanisms, focusing on the chemical variations between the polar night and boreal summer. Using major ions, levoglucosan and MSA, the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) identified five different possible sources: a) sea spray; b) marine primary production; c) biomass burning; d) sea ice related process and e) secondary products. Unlabelled Image • A year-round record of organic acids was studied in Arctic aerosols. • The study investigates sources and seasonal trend of particulate organic acids. • The study provides an overview of the change of sources throughout the seasons. • PMF defines five sources for low molecular weight organic acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]