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Global distillation

Global distillation or the Grasshopper effect is the geochemical process by which certain chemicals, most notably persistent organic pollutants (POPs), are vaporized and transported from warmer to colder regions of the Earth, particularly the poles and mountain tops, where they condense. Other chemicals include acidifying acids (SOx) and heavy metals.[1] The first documented use of the term was in 1975 by E.D. Goldberg to describe the vaporization of synthetic halogenated hydrocarbons which is enhanced by the presence of water.[2] However, this effect was only believed to occur within a defined “pollution band” in the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Soon after, evidence of this effect was found in arctic food as well as its atmosphere.[3] Since then, relatively high concentrations of POPs have been found in the Arctic soil and water, as well as the bodies of animals and people who live there, even though most of the chemicals have not been used in the region in appreciable amounts.[4][5]

  1. ^ Bard, Shannon Mala (1999-05-01). "Global Transport of Anthropogenic Contaminants and the Consequences for the Arctic Marine Ecosystem". Marine Pollution Bulletin. 38 (5): 356–379. doi:10.1016/S0025-326X(99)00041-7. ISSN 0025-326X.
  2. ^ Goldberg, E. D.; Bournaud, R.; Boucher, E. A.; Preston, A.; Cole, H. A.; Smith, James Eric (January 1997). "Synthetic organohalides in the sea". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences. 189 (1096): 277–289. doi:10.1098/rspb.1975.0057.
  3. ^ Ottar, Brynjulf (1980-11-04). "The transfer of airborne pollutants to the Arctic region". Atmospheric Environment (1967). 15 (8): 1439–1445. doi:10.1016/0004-6981(81)90350-4.
  4. ^ Long, Manhai; Sonne, Christian; Dietz, Rune; Bossi, Rossana; Jørgensen, Najannguaq; Olsen, Taatsiannguaq Inuuteq; Bonefeld-Jørgensen, Eva Cecilie (2023-12-01). "Diet, lifestyle and contaminants in three east Greenland Inuit municipalities". Chemosphere. 344: 140368. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140368. ISSN 0045-6535. PMID 37802483.
  5. ^ "Ridding the world of POPs: A guide to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants" (PDF). United Nations Environment Programme. April 2005. Retrieved 2008-06-06.

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