TY - JOUR
T1 - Inter-species differences for polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in marine top predators from the Southern north Sea: Part 1. Accumulation patterns in harbour seals and harbour porpoises
AU - Weijs, L.
AU - Dirtu, A.C.
AU - Das, K.
AU - Gheorghe, A.
AU - Reijnders, P.J.H.
AU - Neels, H.
AU - Blust, R.
AU - Covaci, A.
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - Harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) and harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) are two representative top predator species of the North Sea ecosystem. The median values of sum of 21 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and sum of 10 polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners were 23.1 ¿g/g lipid weight (lw) and 0.33 ¿g/g lw in blubber of harbour seals (n = 28) and 12.4 ¿g/g lw and 0.76 ¿g/g lw in blubber of harbour porpoises (n = 35), respectively. For both species, the highest PCB concentrations were observed in adult males indicating bioaccumulation. On the contrary, the highest PBDE concentrations were measured in juveniles, likely due to better-developed metabolic capacities with age in adults. A higher contribution of lower chlorinated and non-persistent congeners, such as CB 52, CB 95, CB 101, and CB 149, together with higher contributions of other PBDE congeners than BDE 47, indicated that harbour porpoises are unable to metabolize these compounds. Harbour seals showed a higher ability to metabolize PCBs and PBDEs
AB - Harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) and harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) are two representative top predator species of the North Sea ecosystem. The median values of sum of 21 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and sum of 10 polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners were 23.1 ¿g/g lipid weight (lw) and 0.33 ¿g/g lw in blubber of harbour seals (n = 28) and 12.4 ¿g/g lw and 0.76 ¿g/g lw in blubber of harbour porpoises (n = 35), respectively. For both species, the highest PCB concentrations were observed in adult males indicating bioaccumulation. On the contrary, the highest PBDE concentrations were measured in juveniles, likely due to better-developed metabolic capacities with age in adults. A higher contribution of lower chlorinated and non-persistent congeners, such as CB 52, CB 95, CB 101, and CB 149, together with higher contributions of other PBDE congeners than BDE 47, indicated that harbour porpoises are unable to metabolize these compounds. Harbour seals showed a higher ability to metabolize PCBs and PBDEs
KW - brominated flame retardants
KW - phocoena-phocoena
KW - halichoerus-grypus
KW - phoca-vitulina
KW - persistent organochlorines
KW - decabromodiphenyl ether
KW - pcb transfer
KW - blubber
KW - mammals
KW - grey
U2 - 10.1016/j.envpol.2008.09.024
DO - 10.1016/j.envpol.2008.09.024
M3 - Article
SN - 0269-7491
VL - 157
SP - 437
EP - 444
JO - Environmental Pollution
JF - Environmental Pollution
IS - 2
ER -