Increasing levels and biomagnification of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Antarctic biota

Representatives of the Antarctic food web (krill, cephalopod, fish, penguin, seal) of the area around Elephant Island and from the Weddell Sea were analysed for the most recalcitrant organochlorine compounds. Due to sorption of the compounds to sinking particles and accumulation in sediments, two be...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin 2004-02, Vol.48 (3), p.295-302
Main Authors: Goerke, Helmut, Weber, Kurt, Bornemann, Horst, Ramdohr, Sven, Plötz, Joachim
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amphipoda
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Antarctic
Antarctic Regions
Antarctica, Elephant I
Antarctica, Weddell Sea
Applied ecology
Bioaccumulation
Biological and medical sciences
Biomagnification
Birds
Chaenocephalus aceratus
Champsocephalus gunnari
Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution
Elephantidae
Environmental Monitoring
Euphausia
Euphausiacea
Fishes
Food Chain
Food webs
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gobionotothen gibberifrons
Halogenated hydrocarbons
Hydrocarbons - analysis
Hydrocarbons - pharmacokinetics
Insecticides - analysis
Insecticides - pharmacokinetics
Leptonychotes weddellii
Long-range transport
Marine and brackish environment
Mirounga leonina
Mollusca
organochlorine compounds
persistent organic pollutants
POPs
Seals, Earless
Temporal trend
Tissue Distribution
Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis
Water Pollutants, Chemical - pharmacokinetics
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Summary:Representatives of the Antarctic food web (krill, cephalopod, fish, penguin, seal) of the area around Elephant Island and from the Weddell Sea were analysed for the most recalcitrant organochlorine compounds. Due to sorption of the compounds to sinking particles and accumulation in sediments, two benthic fish species ( Gobionotothen gibberifrons, Chaenocephalus aceratus) feeding on benthos invertebrates and fish reflected significantly increasing concentrations within a decade (1987–1996), while a benthopelagic species ( Champsocephalus gunnari) feeding on krill did not. In the pelagic food chain, lipid normalised concentrations of all compounds increased from Antarctic krill to fish proving that biomagnification of highly lipophilic pollutants (log octanol–water partition coefficient > 5) occurs in water-breathing animals. As top predators Weddell and southern elephant seals ( Leptonychotes weddellii, Mirounga leonina) biomagnified the persistent organic pollutants relative to krill 30–160 fold with the exception of hexachlorobenzene, the levels of which were lower than in fish indicating its intense specific elimination.
ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2003.08.004