Associate professor WANG Xiaoping and her colleagues have established a passive air sampling network on the Tibetan Plateau for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) study. Relevant study in years 2007 and 2008 has revealed spatial distribution features of a variety of POPs in the air over the Tibetan Plateau, as well as suggested the possible sampling rate of XAD-resin passive air sampler at high plateau.

According to their study, south Asian agricultural and industrial pollution directly impacts the plateau by injecting such pollutants into the air as hexachlorocyclohexane, polychlorinated biphenyl, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. They also proposed that sporadic usage of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane by local farmers, and/or forest fire could also have contributed to biomass-burning generated pollutants (e.g., hexachlorobenzene) in the air across the plateau.

Dr. Wang has tried through the study to provide a systematic understanding of passive air sampling in the study of POPs across the Tibetan plateau. Titled “Passive air sampling of organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, and polybromnated diphenyl ethers across the Tibetan Plateau”, this study has helped in global understanding of the circulation process of POPs and their impacts on eco-environment in relatively remote area as the Tibetan Plateau.

The paper has undergone peer-reviews and been published on Environmental Science & Technology downloadable at http://www.itpcas.cas.cn/xwzx/tpxw/201004/W020100426528918301222.pdf.