Short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins in multi-environmental matrices in the Tibetan Plateau environment of China: A regional scale study

[Display omitted] •The distribution, profiles and environmental behavior of short and medium chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs and MCCPs) in multi-environmental matrices across an 1843.5 km × 370.6 km region in the Tibetan Plateau area were investigated.•Potential mountain cold-trapping effect of CPs was found in different matrices.•TOC and lipid contents played an important role in concentrating CPs in different matrices.•Different pattern profiles were potentially caused by the combined action from complicated air currents and stronger LRAT ability of SCCPs. Research on the environmental fate and behavior of short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs and MCCPs, respectively), especially in high-altitude remote mountain areas, has rarely been conducted. In this study, the distribution and profiles of SCCPs and MCCPs in soils, barks, needles, lichens, and mosses in the Tibetan Plateau area were investigated during the period from 2010 to 2016. The total CP concentrations in soils, barks, needles, lichens, and mosses increased with increasing altitude from 1983 to 5147 m a.s.l. (above sea level), covering a range of 1843.5 km × 370.6 km. Generally, the mean SCCP levels were higher than mean MCCP levels in different environmental matrices. Moreover, as-obtained linear relationships between CP concentrations in different environmental matrices and altitudes (p