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
[en] 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 mg/g lipid
weight (lw) and 0.33 mg/g lw in blubber of harbour seals (n ¼ 28) and 12.4 mg/g lw and 0.76 mg/g lw in
blubber of harbour porpoises (n¼ 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.
Research Center/Unit :
MARE - Centre Interfacultaire de Recherches en Océanologie - ULiège
Weijs, Liesbeth; University of Antwerp, > Laboratory of Ecophysiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology, Department of Biology
Dirtu, Alin C; Universiteit Antwerpen - UA > Toxicological Centre
Das, Krishna ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences et gestion de l'environnement > Océanologie
Gheorghe, Adriana; Universiteit Antwerpen - UA > Toxicological Centre
Reijnders, Peter; Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Studies > Department of Ecology
Neels, Hugo; Universiteit Antwerpen - UA > Toxicological Centre
Blust, Ronny; Universiteit Antwerpen - UA > Department of Biology > Laboratory of Ecophysiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology
Covaci, Adrian; Universiteit Antwerpen - UA > Toxicological Centre
Language :
English
Title :
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
IWT - Agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie FWO - Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique
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