Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and mercury are toxic chemicals that tend to stay in the environment for a long time and can be carried by air and water, traveling long distances from where they originated from, reaching the remote Arctic. Under the cold weather of the Arctic, these chemicals can deposit onto the Earth’s surfaces and accumulate in the Arctic wildlife, country foods and subsequently the people of the north to alarmingly high concentrations. Air is the first place that these pollutants are found. By measuring how much POPs and mercury are in the air we can know how much comes into the Arctic from external sources. This project proposed to measure these chemicals in air in the Canadian, Russian and American Arctic, as well as at potential source regions on both sides of the Pacific Ocean at the same time. This will give us information on where these chemicals have come from, how much from which region and what climate conditions influence their movement to the Arctic. The Asian Pacific region is now undergoing the World’s fastest economic growth. With this growth, chemical use and energy consumption, which results in chemical by-products, is expected to increase substantially. It is, thus, important for us to find out what relative risks does this region pose on the Arctic environment and the health of Northerners comparing to the North American Pacific region as a result of chemical emissions. With this information, governments can create national and international policies to limit their emissions of POPs and mercury and hopefully reduce what comes into the Arctic. Finally, with the Arctic environment changing, understanding how the behaviour of these pollutants will be affected by climate change is very important. This project aims to understand what future impacts these chemicals may have on the Arctic ecosystem and health of Northerners.