Climate change related creation and up-take processes of naturally occurring halogenated organic substances in the Eastern Arctic MIZ

Established methods for the quantitative analysis of bioactive halogenated natural products (HNPs) usually originating from algae bloom events etc will be applied in the analysis of selected representative biota samples (ice algae ? ringed seals) from the Marginal Ice Zones in the Western Barents Sea. Changes in the composition of the lower food webs in the ice-associated ecosystems will inevitably lead to a change in the composition and the occurrence of bioactive HNPs. Therefore, we will monitor environ mentally stable HNPs such as bromophenols and -anisoles (incl. TBA), MHC-1, halogenated alkaloids (incl. Q1, MBPs and HDBPs, indoles), brominated phenoyxanisoles and dimethoxybiphenyls (BC-2, BC-3, BC-11) with regard to their potential use as indicators f or environmental change in the MIZ related food webs. The analytical methods are well established at the University of Hohenheim. The logistical support and basic analytical support will be provided by UMB and UNIS. The project initiative HaloMIZ is linke d into already ongoing research project focusing on persistent halogenated chemicals such as FP7 EU project ?Arctic Health Risks: Impacts on health in the Arctic and Europe owing to climate-induced changes in contaminant cycling (ArcRisk), WP3: Contaminan t transfer in the Arctic: Process studies? with considerable participation of Norwegian partners (NILU and UNIS). In addition, the project will build upon the substantial scientific findings established through the IPY project COPOL: Contaminants in Polar Regions). The project will extend the analytical spectrum of these running projects by adding natural occurring halogenated target chemicals into the priority analytes list for quantitative analysis. The HaloMIZ partner will join field excursions in the Marginal ice Zone (Norwegian - Russian Arctic, Barents Sea, White Sea region) already planned at UNIS for sampling and sample preparation.