Trends in background levels of persistent organic pollutants at Kosetice observatory, Czech Republic. : Part I. Ambient air and wet deposition 1996–2005

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Abstract
Kosetice observatory is a facility of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, which is a part of the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) network. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs: PCBs, DDTs, HCHs, PAHs) have been monitored in all environmental matrices using the integrated monitoring approach. Generally, the atmospheric levels of POPs in this Central European background station (mean values: 0.115 ng m−3 for ∑PCBs, 0.040 ng m−3 for ∑DDTs, 0.077 ng m−3 for ∑HCHs, and 17 ng m−3 for ∑PAHs) are significantly higher than those in other EMEP stations localized mostly in Northern and Western Europe. Long-term trends of POP concentrations in the ambient air and wet deposition are presented in this article and they show a slow decline in the last decade for most of the investigated compounds. Temporally increased levels of certain chemicals were associated with some local climatic (floods) or socio-economic (fuel prices) factors.