Arctic Ocean acts as a sink for anthropogenic lead from the North Atlantic
The Arctic Ocean acts as a sink for a large portion of the toxic metal lead released to the atmosphere by human activity and deposited in the North Atlantic. Measurements also show that concentrations of this heavy metal in seafloor sediments are locally high enough that benthic organisms could be negatively affected. The loss of sea ice linked to climate change may lead to increased remobilisation of lead-containing sediments. The study thus shows how historical lead emissions from leaded petrol are transported over long distances in the atmosphere and also ocean and can be traced in the Arctic.
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