Organophosphorous flame retardants in Arctic biota

The knowledge of their distribution in the environment is scarace. Screening PFRs in the Arctic biota may give valuable information about the behaviour of these compounds in the environment.  A detection of these contaminants in Arctic biota indicates the PFRs undergo long-range transport since there are no known local sources in the Arctic.  Further, their distribution in the food web could give an indication whether PFRs accumulate in the food web or not.  As part of the work related to international conventions, harmful chemicals should be removed from the market if they fulfil the following criteria ; persistency, volatility (potential for laong-range transport), biomagnification (accumulate in the food web) and toxicity (show toxic effects).  Therefore, contaminants that are detected in the Aarctic environment, accumulate in the food web and may cause toxic effects are of high importance to be phased out and substituted by less harmful compounds.