Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were, for the first time, quantified in archived firn cores from the East Antarctic ice sheet representative of 1945–1957 C.E. and 1958–1967 C.E. The core sections were melted under high purity nitrogen atmosphere and the melt water analysed. Methods allowed quantification of hexachlorocyclohexanes, heptachlor, trans-chlordane, dieldrin and endrin. While the core presented evidence of nominal modern-use chemical contamination, indicating handling

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... or storage contamination, legacy OCP concentrations and deposition rates reported are orders of magnitude lower than those from Arctic regions, lending support for their validity. The study further provides a description of equipment used and suggests adapted methods to overcome logistical challenges associated with trace organic contaminant detection in Polar Regions.