Project information
Levels and air-sea exchange of persistent organic pollutants in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea: contribution to the global monitoring effort AQUA- GAPS/MONET (AQUAGAPS_AEGEAN)

The intended research will be performed within the AQUA-GAPS/MONET worldwide
monitoring network of aquatic organic contaminants. The network aims to derive
baseline concentrations and time-trends of various dissolved hydrophobic organic
contaminants (HOCs), PFAS and other contaminants of emerging concern globally,
relying on standardised passive sampling tools and a centralized sample analysis that
allows for direct comparison of data while minimizing measurement uncertainty.
Activities of the AQUA-GAPS/MONET network include (i) deployment of passive
samplers for hydrophobic organic compounds at a wide range of lake, estuarine, coastal,
and oceanic sites across the world; (ii) determination of background concentrations of
relevant aquatic contaminants across the waters of the world; (iii) assessment of the
relation of dissolved contaminant concentrations with latitude, temperature,
contaminant concentration in air, and population density; and (iv) use the information
gained from the deployments to optimize sampler and site distribution for long-term
monitoring efforts for a wider range of organic contaminants of concern. Apart from
monitoring of aquatic contaminants, simultaneous deployment of aquatic and
atmospheric passive samplers aims at investigation of air-sea exchange of contaminants
of interest.