Occurrence of anthropogenic and naturally-produced organohalogenated compounds in tissues of Black Sea harbour porpoises

• Published in: Marine Pollution Bulletin
• Main Authors: Weijs, L., Das, K., Neels, H., Blust, R., Covaci, A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Animal tissues; Anthropogenic effects; Cetacea; PCB; Porpoises; Tissues; Phocoena phocoena; Phocoena phocoena (Linnaeus; 1758); MED; Black Sea
• Online Access: http://www.vliz.be/nl/open-marien-archief?module=ref&refid=195425

Harbour porpoises are one of the three cetacean species inhabiting the Black Sea. This is the first study to report on polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and naturally-produced compounds, methoxylated PBDEs (MeO-PBDEs) and polybrominated hexahydroxanthene derivatives (PBHDs), in tissues (kidney, brain, blubber, liver, muscle) of male harbour porpoises (11 adults, 9 juveniles) from the Black Sea. Lipid-normalized concentrations decreased from muscle > blubber > liver > kidney > brain for the sum of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and for the sum of PBDEs. Among the naturally-produced compounds, levels of PBHDs were higher than of MeO-PBDEs, with tri-BHD and 6-MeO-BDE 47 being the dominant compounds for both groups, respectively. Concentrations of naturally-produced compounds decreased from blubber to brain, similarly to the sum of DDT and metabolites (DDXs). Concentrations of DDXs were highest, followed by PCBs, HCB, PBHDs, PBDEs and MeO-PBDEs. Levels of PCBs and PBDEs in blubber were lower than concentrations reported for harbour porpoises from the North Sea, while concentrations of DDXs were higher.