Polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides in baltic and atlantic gray seal (Halichoerus grypus) pups

• Published in: Environmental toxicology and chemistry Vol. 22; no. 11; pp. 2789 - 2799
• Main Authors: Sørmo, Eugen G., Skaare, Janneche U., JÜSsi, Ivar, JÜSsi, Mart, Jenssen, BjØRn M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Periodicals, Inc 01-11-2003; SETAC
• Subjects: Adipose Tissue - chemistry; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Aves; Biological and medical sciences; Blubber; Brackish; Diet; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates; Female; Food Chain; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Halichoerus grypus; Insecticides - analysis; Insecticides - pharmacokinetics; Male; Mammalia; Marine mammals; Nondestructive monitoring; Phocids; Pollution; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - analysis; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - pharmacokinetics; Seals, Earless; Volatilization; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water Pollutants, Chemical - pharmacokinetics; Atlantic Ocean; North Atlantic; Baltic Sea; ANE, Baltic Sea; Carnivora; Toxicity; Pesticides; Exposure; Spatial variation; Pinnipedia; Polychlorobiphenyl; Young animal; Marine environment; Non destructive method; Vertebrata; Pollution Phocids Nondestructive monitoring Marine mammals Blubber; Mammalia; Organochlorine compounds; Chlorocarbon; Halichoerus grypus; Water pollution; Biological accumulation
• ISSN: 0730-7268; 1552-8618
• DOI: 10.1897/02-556

Organochlorine pollutants (OCs), such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), DDT, chlordanes (CHLs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) were determined in blubber biopsies from free‐ranging Baltic and Atlantic gray seal (Halichoerus grypus) pups. Well‐fed pups from the Baltic Sea had concentrations of DDT, PCBs, and HCHs that were 2 to 10 times higher than in corresponding pups from populations in the Atlantic Ocean. The OC pattern in the Baltic seals differed significantly from that of their Atlantic relatives, reflecting the predominance of regional point source inputs into the Baltic Sea and long‐range atmospheric inputs into the Atlantic Ocean. The differences in the pattern of the compounds also indicated an enhanced metabolism of the more metabolizable compounds in the more contaminated Baltic seals. Surprisingly, the proportions of the high chlorinated and low‐volatile PCB congeners (>6 Cl atoms) were comparable or lower in the Baltic pups as compared to the Atlantic pups. This difference might be due to Baltic seals occupying a lower trophic level than Atlantic seals and/or to the eutrophication situation in the Baltic Sea, which causes sedimentation of these PCB congeners. Significantly higherOCconcentrations were found in starved and/or abandoned Baltic pups as compared to well‐fed pups. The most contaminated Baltic seal pups in the present study had PCB concentrations that are comparable or higher than those reported to impair the immune systems and vitamin A dynamics in phocids.