Silent Snow - Arctic Pollution

The documentary Silent Snow (2011), a film by Jan van den Berg and Pipaluk Knudsen-Ostermann, follows a young Greenlandic woman on her journey all around the world to find the causes of the contamination that is quietly poisoning her people.

The vast white snow landscapes of the polar regions are a beautiful example of pristine areas. A place where only adapted humans and animals can survive. However, Inuit communities  who have lived in the Arctic region for centuries are now faced with global problems, one of these being pollution. Chemicals that are produced all over the world have reached the polar regions and can affect the animals and humans living there.

This dossier contains background information on transport, accumulation and effects of contaminants in the polar regions.

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Flyer:

• IMARES Kennisdossier ‘Silent snow’ (In Dutch)

Article:

• Een onzichtbaar probleem - vervuiling in de poolgebieden (in Dutch)

News:

• Minder verontreinigingen in Antarctische vogels,  méér in bodemorganismen - 10 feb 2011 (in Dutch)

Reports Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP):

• Arctic Pollution 2011
• AMAP 2009 Assessment of Human Health in the Arctic
• AMAP 2009 Assessment of Arctic Pollution Status 

Publications:

• Contrasting time trends of organic contaminants in Antarctic pelagic and benthic food webs -2011
   
• AMAP Assessment 2009 - Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Arctic. Science of the Total Environment Special Issue. 408:2851-3051. Elsevier, 2010.
  • Acknowledgements
  • Preface
  • Atmospheric monitoring of organic pollutants in the Arctic under the AMAP - 1993-2006
  • Brominated flame retardants in the Arctic environment - trends and new candidates
  • Polychlorinated naphthalenes in polar environments - a review
  • Levels and trends of poly- and perfluorinated compounds in the arctic environment
  • Endosulfan, a global pesticide: A review of fate in the environment and occurrence in the Arctic
  • Current use pesticides in Arctic media - 2000–2007
  • Exposure and effects assessment - persistent organohalogen contaminants in arctic wildlife and fish
  • Trends of legacy and new POPs in the circumpolar arctic: Overview, conclusions, and recommendations 
  • Colophon 
     
• Contaminants in Canadian Arctic biota and implications for human health: Conclusions and knowledge gaps - 2005