Standard names: *Persistant Organic Pollutants*

[ofauny]

Proposer's name Olivia FAUNY (on behalf of the NECCTON project and Copernicus Marine Service)

As part of our work on stressors and pollutant, we would like to propose several standard names to describe the concentration of POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants), covering the following substance :

• PCB (including PCB 189, PCB 153, PCB 138, PCB 118, PCB 28)
• PFAS (including PFOA and PFOS)
• OPE

(Please let me know if this ticket need to be divided in 3)

Date 01 Oct 2025

Term

1. mole_concentration_of_dissolved_PCB_in_sea_water

2. mole_concentration_of_PCB_in_particulate_organic_matter_in_sea_water

3. mole_concentration_of_dissolved_PFAS_in_sea_water

4. mole_concentration_of_PFAS_in_particulate_organic_matter_in_sea_water

5. mass_concentration_of_dissolved_OPE_in_sea_water

6. mass_concentration_of_OPE_in_particulate_organic_matter_in_sea_water

7. mass_concentration_of_OPE_in_dry_aerosol_particles_in_air

8. mass_concentration_of_gaseous_OPE_in_air 

Description

1 & 2.
Mole concentration means number of moles per unit volume, also called "molarity", and is used in the construction mole_concentration_of_X_in_Y, where X is a material constituent of Y. A chemical species denoted by X may be described by a single term such as 'nitrogen' or a phrase such as 'nox_expressed_as_nitrogen'. PCB means polychlorinated biphenylester.

3 & 4.
Mole concentration means number of moles per unit volume, also called "molarity", and is used in the construction mole_concentration_of_X_in_Y, where X is a material constituent of Y. A chemical species denoted by X may be described by a single term such as 'nitrogen' or a phrase such as 'nox_expressed_as_nitrogen'. PFAS means per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

5 & 6.
"Mass concentration" means mass per unit volume and is used in the construction "mass_concentration_of_X_in_Y", where X is a material constituent of Y. A chemical species or biological group denoted by X may be described by a single term such as "nitrogen" or a phrase such as "nox_expressed_as_nitrogen". OPE means organophosphate esters

7. "Mass concentration" means mass per unit volume and is used in the construction "mass_concentration_of_X_in_Y", where X is a material constituent of Y. A chemical species or biological group denoted by X may be described by a single term such as "nitrogen" or a phrase such as "nox_expressed_as_nitrogen". "Aerosol" means the system of suspended liquid or solid particles in air (except cloud droplets) and their carrier gas, the air itself. Aerosol particles take up ambient water (a process known as hygroscopic growth) depending on the relative humidity and the composition of the particles. "Dry aerosol particles" means aerosol particles without any water uptake. OPE means organophosphate esters.

8. "Mass concentration" means mass per unit volume and is used in the construction "mass_concentration_of_X_in_Y", where X is a material constituent of Y. A chemical species or biological group denoted by X may be described by a single term such as "nitrogen" or a phrase such as "nox_expressed_as_nitrogen". OPE means organophosphate esters.

Units (If applicable).

1, 2, 3 & 4.
mol m-3

5, 6, 7 & 8.
kg m-3

[github-actions]

Thank you for your proposal. These terms will be added to the cfeditor (http://cfeditor.ceda.ac.uk/proposals/1) shortly. Your proposal will then be reviewed and commented on by the community and Standard Names moderator.

[github-actions]

This issue has had no activity in the last 30 days. Accordingly:

• If you proposed this issue or have contributed to the
  discussion, please reply to any outstanding concerns.
• If there has been little or no discussion, please comment
  on this issue, to assist with reaching a decision.
• If the proposal seems to have come to a consensus, please
  wait for the moderators to take the next steps towards
  acceptance.

Standard name moderators are also reminded to review @feggleton @japamment @efisher008

[JonathanGregory]

Dear Olivia @ofauny

Thanks for this proposal and sorry for the slow response.

These proposed names conform to existing patterns and look good to me. We use lower case for acronyms in standard names e.g. toa, lwe, cfc, nox, so I think these new ones should be pcb, pfas and ope.

Best wishes

Jonathan

[EDescourvieres]

Hello @JonathanGregory ,

Following the previous discussion, the standard names will be as follows:

• mole_concentration_of_dissolved_pcb_in_sea_water
• mole_concentration_of_pcb_in_particulate_organic_matter_in_sea_water
• mole_concentration_of_dissolved_pfas_in_sea_water
• mole_concentration_of_pfas_in_particulate_organic_matter_in_sea_water
• mass_concentration_of_dissolved_ope_in_sea_water
• mass_concentration_of_ope_in_particulate_organic_matter_in_sea_water
• mass_concentration_of_ope_in_dry_aerosol_particles_in_air
• mass_concentration_of_gaseous_ope_in_air

Please let me know if you require any further information for the next step in the standard name acceptance process.

Best regards,

Emmanuelle

[eileenhertwig-dkrz]

Hi @EDescourvieres,

I have added the terms to the CF standard name editor, but still have a question regarding the description of PCBs. "PCB means polychlorinated biphenylester." Is this correct? I found rather "polychlorinated biphenyls" with the general formula C(12)​H(10−n)​Cl(n).

These are now the entries in the CF standard name editor:

1. mole_concentration_of_dissolved_pcb_in_sea_water: "Mole concentration" means number of moles per unit volume, also called "molarity", and is used in the construction "mole_concentration_of_X_in_Y", where X is a material constituent of Y. A chemical species or biological group denoted by X may be described by a single term such as "nitrogen" or a phrase such as "nox_expressed_as_nitrogen". PCB means polychlorinated biphenyls with the general formula C(12)​H(10−n)​Cl(n). PCB is the term used in standard names to describe the group of chemical species having this common structure that are represented within a given model. The list of individual species that are included in a quantity having a group chemical standard name can vary between models. Where possible, the data variable should be accompanied by a complete description of the species represented, for example, by using a comment attribute.
   Unit: mol m-3
   https://cfeditor.ceda.ac.uk/proposal/5747/
2. mole_concentration_of_pcb_in_particulate_organic_matter_in_sea_water: "Mole concentration" means number of moles per unit volume, also called "molarity", and is used in the construction "mole_concentration_of_X_in_Y", where X is a material constituent of Y. A chemical species or biological group denoted by X may be described by a single term such as "nitrogen" or a phrase such as "nox_expressed_as_nitrogen". PCB means polychlorinated biphenyls with the general formula C(12)​H(10−n)​Cl(n). PCB is the term used in standard names to describe the group of chemical species having this common structure that are represented within a given model. The list of individual species that are included in a quantity having a group chemical standard name can vary between models. Where possible, the data variable should be accompanied by a complete description of the species represented, for example, by using a comment attribute. Particulate organic matter (also called POM) means organic matter that does not pass through a reference filter pore size.
   Unit: mol m-3
   https://cfeditor.ceda.ac.uk/proposal/5748/
3. mole_concentration_of_dissolved_pfas_in_sea_water: "Mole concentration" means number of moles per unit volume, also called "molarity", and is used in the construction "mole_concentration_of_X_in_Y", where X is a material constituent of Y. A chemical species or biological group denoted by X may be described by a single term such as "nitrogen" or a phrase such as "nox_expressed_as_nitrogen". PFAS means per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. For Perfluoroalkyl substances the general structure is C(n)F(2n+1)-R and for Polyfluoroalkyl substances the general structure is C(n)F(2n+1-x)H(x)-R, with R being a functional group. PFAS is the term used in standard names to describe the group of chemical species having this common structure that are represented within a given model. The list of individual species that are included in a quantity having a group chemical standard name can vary between models. Where possible, the data variable should be accompanied by a complete description of the species represented, for example, by using a comment attribute.
   Unit: mol m-3
   https://cfeditor.ceda.ac.uk/proposal/5749
4. mole_concentration_of_pfas_in_particulate_organic_matter_in_sea_water: "Mole concentration" means number of moles per unit volume, also called "molarity", and is used in the construction "mole_concentration_of_X_in_Y", where X is a material constituent of Y. A chemical species or biological group denoted by X may be described by a single term such as "nitrogen" or a phrase such as "nox_expressed_as_nitrogen". PFAS means per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. For Perfluoroalkyl substances the general structure is C(n)F(2n+1)-R and for Polyfluoroalkyl substances the general structure is C(n)F(2n+1-x)H(x)-R, with R being a functional group. PFAS is the term used in standard names to describe the group of chemical species having this common structure that are represented within a given model. The list of individual species that are included in a quantity having a group chemical standard name can vary between models. Where possible, the data variable should be accompanied by a complete description of the species represented, for example, by using a comment attribute. Particulate organic matter (also called POM) means organic matter that does not pass through a reference filter pore size.
   Unit: mol m-3
   https://cfeditor.ceda.ac.uk/proposal/5750/
5. mass_concentration_of_dissolved_ope_in_sea_water: "Mass concentration" means mass per unit volume and is used in the construction "mass_concentration_of_X_in_Y", where X is a material constituent of Y. A chemical species or biological group denoted by X may be described by a single term such as "nitrogen" or a phrase such as "nox_expressed_as_nitrogen". OPE means organophosphate esters with the general structure O=P(OR)3. OPE is the term used in standard names to describe the group of chemical species having this common structure that are represented within a given model. The list of individual species that are included in a quantity having a group chemical standard name can vary between models. Where possible, the data variable should be accompanied by a complete description of the species represented, for example, by using a comment attribute.
   Unit: kg m-3
   https://cfeditor.ceda.ac.uk/proposal/5751/
6. mass_concentration_of_ope_in_particulate_organic_matter_in_sea_water: "Mass concentration" means mass per unit volume and is used in the construction "mass_concentration_of_X_in_Y", where X is a material constituent of Y. A chemical species or biological group denoted by X may be described by a single term such as "nitrogen" or a phrase such as "nox_expressed_as_nitrogen". OPE means organophosphate esters with the general structure O=P(OR)3. OPE is the term used in standard names to describe the group of chemical species having this common structure that are represented within a given model. The list of individual species that are included in a quantity having a group chemical standard name can vary between models. Where possible, the data variable should be accompanied by a complete description of the species represented, for example, by using a comment attribute. Particulate organic matter (also called POM) means organic matter that does not pass through a reference filter pore size.
   Unit: kg m-3
   https://cfeditor.ceda.ac.uk/proposal/5752/
7. mass_concentration_of_ope_in_dry_aerosol_particles_in_air: "Mass concentration" means mass per unit volume and is used in the construction "mass_concentration_of_X_in_Y", where X is a material constituent of Y. A chemical species or biological group denoted by X may be described by a single term such as "nitrogen" or a phrase such as "nox_expressed_as_nitrogen". OPE means organophosphate esters with the general structure O=P(OR)3. OPE is the term used in standard names to describe the group of chemical species having this common structure that are represented within a given model. The list of individual species that are included in a quantity having a group chemical standard name can vary between models. Where possible, the data variable should be accompanied by a complete description of the species represented, for example, by using a comment attribute. "Aerosol" means the system of suspended liquid or solid particles in air (except cloud droplets) and their carrier gas, the air itself. Aerosol particles take up ambient water (a process known as hygroscopic growth) depending on the relative humidity and the composition of the particles. "Dry aerosol particles" means aerosol particles without any water uptake.
   Unit: kg m-3
   https://cfeditor.ceda.ac.uk/proposal/5753/
8. mass_concentration_of_gaseous_ope_in_air: "Mass concentration" means mass per unit volume and is used in the construction "mass_concentration_of_X_in_Y", where X is a material constituent of Y. A chemical species or biological group denoted by X may be described by a single term such as "nitrogen" or a phrase such as "nox_expressed_as_nitrogen". OPE means organophosphate esters with the general structure O=P(OR)3. OPE is the term used in standard names to describe the group of chemical species having this common structure that are represented within a given model. The list of individual species that are included in a quantity having a group chemical standard name can vary between models. Where possible, the data variable should be accompanied by a complete description of the species represented, for example, by using a comment attribute.
   Unit: kg m-3
   https://cfeditor.ceda.ac.uk/proposal/5754/

Best regards,
Eileen

[EDescourvieres]

Hello @eileenhertwig-dkrz,
Thank you for your quick replay.
You are correct that PCB refers to Polychlorinated biphenyls. We apologize for the confusion.
Best regards,

Emmanuelle

[eileenhertwig-dkrz]

Hello @EDescourvieres,

does everything else look correct in the descriptions? Especially the general formulas? (I am not a chemist.)

Best regards,
Eileen

[EDescourvieres]

Hello @eileenhertwig-dkrz ,
You are correct about the formula. The chemical formula of PCBs is C 12 H (10-n) Cl n , where n is a number of chlorine atoms (Ododo & Wabalo 2019).

Ododo, M. M., & Wabalo, B. K. (2019). Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and their impacts on human health: a review. J. Environ. Pollut. Hum. Health, 7(2), 73. DOI:10.12691/jephh-7-2-3

Best regards,

Emmanuelle

[eileenhertwig-dkrz]

Thanks, @EDescourvieres.

I have updated the descriptions for PCBs including the reference ([...]PCB means polychlorinated biphenyls with the general formula C(12)​H(10−n)​Cl(n), where n is a number of chlorine atoms. Reference: Ododo & Wabalo 2019 (https://pubs.sciepub.com/jephh/7/2/3).[...]) The DOI for the reference does not resolve that's why I did not include it.

Do you also have references for PFAS and OPE?

[EDescourvieres]

Hello @eileenhertwig-dkrz ,
The citation and reference were provided to support and illustrate my proposal. However, i do not think that it is relevant to include in the description. Your previous description was correct.
Kind regards,
Emmanuelle