Butyltin Species in Benthic and Pelagic Organisms of the Saguenay Fjord (Canada) and Imposex Occurrence in Common Whelk (Buccinum undatum)

• Main Authors: L. Viglino, L. E. J. Lee
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2004
• Subjects: Arctic; Canada
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.472.4288; http://www.wlu.ca/documents/16922/Viglino_et_al_2006.pdf

Abstract. The distribution and accumulation of butyltins in various tissues of 13 benthic and pelagic species living in the sub-Arctic Saguenay Fjord (Canada)were investigated. Butyltin contamination was ubiquitous in this ecosystem with tributyltin (TBT) biota to sediment accumulation factors (BSAF) ranging between 0.22 and 11, but without any important biomagnifica-tion between trophic levels. The large range of butyltin com-pounds accumulating within different tissues of the species collected from all trophic levels was from 7 to 1238 ng Sn g)1 d.w. and indicates an exceptional contamination level only found in northern coastal areas exposed to an intensive traffic of commercial ships. Results show that bioaccumulation in organisms depends on three main factors: (1) the actual con-tamination level in their habitat, (2) their assimilation pathway by water, sediment or diet, and (3) their ability to metabolize