| Summary: | Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) collected during the 1987/88 mass mortality event along the Atlantic coast ot the United States have been analyzed for anthropogenic chemical contaminants. Average contaminant concentrations in adult males were higher than the average concentrations measured in adult females. emales could be divided into two groups by average contaminant concentrations, one with low concentrations, and another with concentrations 4.4 times (PCBS) to 8.9 times (p,p'-DDE) greater. ontaminant concentrations in the bottlenose were generallygreater than the concentrations measured in either common (Delphinus delphis) or white-sided (Lagenorhynchus acutus) dolphins from the western North Atlantic Ocean. ubset of animals screened for unusual chemical contaminants showed that numerous polybrominated chemicals were present, including polybrominated biphenyls and diphenyl ethers not previously found in marine mammals from U.S. coastal waters.
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