PCB congeners in the marine biota of Saint Paul and Amsterdam Islands, southern Indian Ocean

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin 1995, Vol.30 (4), p.272-274
• Main Authors: Monod, Jean-Louis, Arnaud, Patrick M., Arnoux, Andre
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Marine; Marine and brackish environment
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/0025-326X(94)00216-V

The PCB and DDT pollution of sub-Antarctic environments and of the biota of the southern Indian Ocean has been the subject of only a few papers. These involve either samples taken near islands (Marion Island, Gardner et al., 1985; the Kerguelen islands, Monod et al., 1992) or along a transect between Syowa station in Antarctica and Mauritius Island (Tanabe et al., 1983). For the subtropical zone, located between the sub-Antarctic and the subtropical convergences, the only data available are those of Tanabe et al. (1983). The present paper partly fills this gap by providing data on the levels of the six PCB congeners 28, 52, 118, 138, 153 and 180 (Ballschmiter & Zell, 1980), in various biological samples from Saint Paul and Amsterdam islands. These two volcanic islands, separated by 91 km (Averous, 1990), are situated in the central southern Indian Ocean at 37 degree 50'S latitude and 77 degree 31'E longitude (Amsterdam Island), and 38 degree 43'S and 77 degree 32'E (Saint Paul Island). Amsterdam Island is the larger and higher of the two (881 m), and is also the only one having a permanent base, La Roche Godon, where some 30 people are living. The uninhabited Saint Paul Island is very small (7 km super(2)) and 265 m high, but includes an interesting feature. This is an internal marine basin, 60 m deep, and measuring about 1 km in diameter, having a permanent but limited communication with the open sea (80 m wide, 2.5 m deep at high tide and only 0.8 m deep at low tide). This flooded crater was considered a possible 'sink' for atmospheric chemicals, and the sampling strategy was designed accordingly.