Persistent organic pollutants in red- and white-blooded High-Antarctic notothenioid fish from the remote Weddell Sea. ...

• Main Authors: Strobel, Anneli, Schmid, Peter, Burkhardt-Holm, Patricia, Segner, Helmut, Zennegg, Markus
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Science 2018
• Subjects: 630 Agriculture; Antarc*; Antarctic; Weddell Sea
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7892/boris.112106; https://boris.unibe.ch/112106/

It has been suggested that High-Antarctic waters, despite their remoteness from human activities, are impacted by anthropogenic pollution, and that the local biota are accumulating the contaminants. At present, no data exist on persistent organic pollutant (POP) body burdens for notothenioid fish inhabiting the High-Antarctic Weddell Sea. We determined the pollutant load in white muscle tissue of red- and white-blooded notothenoids from the Weddell Sea (Trematomus loennbergii and Chionodraco hamatus, respectively), and compared them to our previous measurements of POPs in Low-Antarctic notothenioids. Analytes included various organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (indicator (i) PCBs, dioxine-like (dl) PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The analytical concentrations were converted into 2,3,7,8-TCDD toxic equivalents (TEQs). Compared to T. loennbergii, C. hamatus had lower levels of β-HCH (0.45 vs. 4.5 ng glipid weight), and Σ iPCBs (30 vs. 39 ng glipid weight), as well as ...