Organochlorine contaminants in Caspian and harbour seal blubber

• Main Authors: Hall, A J, Duck, C D, Law, R J, Allchin, C R, Wilson, S, Eybator, T
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 1999
• Subjects: organochlorine; contaminants; Harbour seal; Caspian seal; blubber; ADIPOSE-TISSUE; PHOCA-VITULINA; RESIDUE LEVELS; WADDEN SEA; MAMMALS; REPRODUCTION; PATTERNS; ANATOMY; FISH; harbour seal; Phoca vitulina
• Online Access: https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/organochlorine-contaminants-in-caspian-and-harbour-seal-blubber(e5f0b06a-f506-407c-a434-07020e4a9e29).html; http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0032790718&partnerID=8YFLogxK

Organochlorine contaminants (pesticides and individual polychlorinated biphenyl congeners, PCBs) were measured in Caspian (Phoca caspica) seal blubber and compared with concentrations in Harbour (Phoca vitulina) seal blubber. Concentrations of total dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites were significantly higher in Caspian seal than Harbour seal samples, whereas PCB congeners were significantly higher in Harbour than Caspian seals. Our finding suggests that Caspian seals are exposed to high levels of DDT pesticides. In contrast, PCBs are circulating in this population at much lower levels than in marine mammals from the North Sea. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.