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SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

In-flame: INputs of FLuorinated compounds from Arctic MElting RiS ID: 11598

Awarded: NOK 76,999

The acceleration of ice melting due to the global warming taking place on Earth might be a new involuntary source of legacy anthropogenic compounds redistribution, such as Per- and Poly-FluoroAlkyl Substances (PFASs). This mechanism is further emphasized by the Arctic amplification phenomenon, which makes the Svalbard archipelago a privileged observatory of the effects caused by the ongoing global changes. PFASs are water-soluble compounds and the increasing temperature in the Arctic could affect their biogeochemical cycle, making them more bioavailable to the dietary intake by the population living in the archipelago through the consumption of drinking water, becoming a threat to human health. The main purpose of the In-flame project is to study if the glacier melting and permafrost thawing could be emission sources of former inputs of PFASs in the Longyearbyen area, discriminating which could be the substrate more able to release them during the melting season.

Funding scheme:

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum