| Summary: | The project "A comparative assessment of persistent organic pollutants and their metabolites, with emphasis on non-traditional contaminants, in the West-Nordic and the Baltic Proper environments (CAPNE)" was funded by the Nordic Council of Minister in the years 2004 to 2006. The aim was to analyse environmental pollution in guillemot (Uria aalge) eggs from the West-Nordic and compare to the Baltic Region to estimate the pollution burden in the biota. High levels of most chlorinated pollutants were found in the Baltic region where the major distribution pattern showed a 5-20 times higher concentrations of chlorinated compounds compared to locations in the West-Nordic, Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland. The exception was HCB, showing a more equal distribution between all sampling locations. Another exception is the bis(4-chlorophenyl)sulfone (BCPS) with high levels in samples from the Baltic Region compared to almost non-detectable levels found in samples from the West-Nordic region. The polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) showed only a slightly different distribution pattern between the Baltic and the West-Nordic guillmot eggs, whereas the hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) is similar to the chlorinated compounds with major differences between the Baltic proper and West-Nordic locations. Methoxylated PBDEs, which mainly are considered to be naturally produced, were only detected in samples from the Baltic Region. Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) have a distribution pattern completely different from both chlorinated and brominated compounds and without any obvious relations within the group of perfluorinated compounds. Different groups, carboxyl acids, sulfonates and sulfoneamides, have different distribution pattern making it difficult to explain sources and emission. Two major questions need to be answered after this study, why is the HCB and PBDE distribution different from the other chlorinated or brominated compounds and which are the main sources and distribution routes of perfluorinated compounds. We would ...
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