Glacial Melt Inputs of Organophosphate Ester Flame Retardants to the Largest High Arctic Lake

Organophosphate esters (OPE) have been detected in Arctic environment, but the influence of glacial melt on the environmental behavior of OPE in recipient Arctic aquatic ecosystems is still unknown. In this study, water samples were collected from Lake Hazen (LH) and its tributaries to investigate the distribution of 14 OPE in LH and to explore the input of OPE from glacial rivers to LH and the output of OPE from LH in 2015 and 2018. ∑14OPE concentrations in water of LH were lower than glacial rivers and its major outflow, the Ruggles River. In 2015, a high melt year, we estimated that glacial rivers contributed 7.0 ± 3.2 kg OPE to LH, compared to a 16.5 ± 0.3 kg OPE output by the Ruggles River, suggesting that residence time and/or additional inputs via direct wet and dry deposition and permafrost melt likely result in OPE retention in the LH watershed. In 2018, a lower melt year, ∑14OPE concentrations in glacial rivers were much lower, indicating that the rate of glacier melt may govern, in part, the co...