Analysis of organochlorine compounds and extractable organic halogen in three subspecies of ringed seal from Northeast Europe

• Published in: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
• Main Authors: Kostamo, Auli, Medvedev, Nikolai, Pellinen, Jukka, Hyvärinen, Heikki, Kukkonen, Jussi V. K.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2000
• Subjects: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis; Environmental Chemistry; White Sea; Phoca hispida; ringed seal
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/etc.5620190410; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fetc.5620190410; https://setac.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/etc.5620190410

Abstract Oganochlorine compounds in blubber samples of the ringed seal ( Phoca hispida saimensis, P. h. ladogensis , and P. h. hispida ) were analyzed in order to estimate the state of pollution in three different water areas in Northeast Europe, namely, Lake Saimaa in Finland, Lake Ladoga, and the White Sea in Russia. Geographic differences in concentrations and in relative concentrations of tri‐ and tetrachlorocymenes, hexachlorobenzene, α‐HCH, β‐HCH, ‐γ‐HCH (Lindane), seven polychlorinated bi‐phenyl (PCB) congeners, and p,p ′‐DDT and its metabolites in ringed seals were compared. Concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons varied between the water areas. The highest concentrations were found in Saimaa ringed seals, followed by Ladoga ringed seals, and the lowest concentrations were detected in ringed seals from the White Sea. Extractable organic halogen (EOX) concentrations in blubber were also analyzed. The concentrations showed a geographic trend similar to those for the individual compounds identified. In Lakes Ladoga and Saimaa, the concentrations of EOX and chlorinated hydrocarbons in the blubber were dependent on the age and sex of the seals, but no such relationship was observed in samples from the White Sea.