Skip to main content
Publications | Persons | Institutes | Projects
[ report an error in this record ]basket (0): add | show Print this page

Occurrence of anthropogenic and naturally-produced organohalogenated compounds in tissues of Black Sea harbour porpoises
Weijs, L.; Das, K.; Neels, H.; Blust, R.; Covaci, A. (2010). Occurrence of anthropogenic and naturally-produced organohalogenated compounds in tissues of Black Sea harbour porpoises. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 60(5): 725-731. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.11.022
In: Marine Pollution Bulletin. Macmillan: London. ISSN 0025-326X; e-ISSN 1879-3363, more
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Authors 

Keywords
    Anthropogenic effects
    Chemical compounds > Organic compounds > Hydrocarbons > Unsaturated hydrocarbons > Aromatic hydrocarbons > PCB
    Eukaryotes > Animals > Chordata > Vertebrates > Mammals > Cetacea
    Porpoises
    Tissues
    Tissues > Animal tissues
    Phocoena phocoena (Linnaeus, 1758) [WoRMS]; Phocoena phocoena (Linnaeus, 1758) [WoRMS]
    MED, Black Sea [Marine Regions]
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    Harbour porpoise; Black Sea; Anthropogenic compounds; Naturally-produced compounds; Tissue distribution

Authors  Top 

Abstract
    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.

All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy Top | Authors