Invited paperTime trends of persistent organic pollutants in spanish air

•First complete analysis of POP presence in Spanish air coming from inner sites.•Urban sites present higher POP levels than remote locations, except for HCB.•Results revealed a temporal decrease for TPBDE, TPCB and TDDT.

Passive air samplers consisting of polyurethane foam (PUF) disks were deployed in seven remote points and four urban locations to assess levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and some organochlorine pesticides including: 1,1'-(2,2,2-trichloroethane-1,1-diyl)bis(4-chlorobenzene) (DDT) and their metabolites (1,1-bis-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,2-dichloroethene (DDE) and 1-chloro-4-[2,2-dichloro-1-(4-chlorophenyl)ethyl]benzene (DDD)), hexaclorobenzene (HCB) and hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), in the Spanish ambient air. Results revealed HCB (49 pg m−3; median) as the major pollutant, followed in decreasing order by HCHs (21 pg m−3), ∑DDT/E/Ds (20 pg m−3), PCBs (20 pg m−3), PBDEs (3.3 pg m−3) and PCDD/Fs (0.04 pg m−3), when urban and remote locations are evaluated together. Urban areas presented statistically significant (p < 0.05, Mann-Whitney U test) higher levels for all families studied, except for HCB, compared to remote locations revealing anthropogenic activities as potential sources for these chemicals. On the contrary, HCB concentrations seem to reflect background levels. Interestingly, results reveal a decreasing trend for PCBs, PBDEs and DDTs levels in remote areas, while this behaviour is only statistically significant in the case of the former chemicals in urban locations. The present study is framed in the Spanish air monitoring plan and represents the first complete analysis related to POP presence in Spanish air coming from inner sites.

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