Persistent organic pollutants in blubber of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) from the Southern Ocean

Mar Pollut Bull. 2019 Aug:145:148-152. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.05.045. Epub 2019 May 24.

Abstract

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were analyzed in eighteen blubber samples biopsied from fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) during the feeding season near the Antarctic Peninsula in the summer of 2013. POP content (in ng g-1 lipid weight) ranged from 46.4 to 708 for polychlorinated biphenyls (∑PCBs), 6.77 to 123 for hexachlorobenzene (HCB), 10.1 to 489 for dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and derivatives (∑DDTs), 5.38 to 52.8 for hexachlorocyclohexanes (∑HCH) and <0.40 to 2.54 for polybrominated diphenyl ethers (∑PBDEs). The presence of those compounds in Southern Ocean fin whales is related to long-range transport and their diet based mainly on euphausiids (krill). Their contents were much lower compared to the same species in other locations, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, presumably due to differences in trophic position and the proximity of POP sources and contamination of prey items.

Keywords: Antartica; Balaenoptera physalus; Fin whale; Organochlorine pesticides; POPs; Southern Ocean.

MeSH terms

  • Adipose Tissue / chemistry*
  • Animals
  • Antarctic Regions
  • DDT / analysis
  • Environmental Monitoring
  • Female
  • Fin Whale*
  • Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / analysis
  • Hexachlorobenzene / analysis
  • Hexachlorocyclohexane / analysis
  • Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / analysis
  • Male
  • Oceans and Seas
  • Polychlorinated Biphenyls / analysis
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*

Substances

  • Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers
  • Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical
  • Hexachlorobenzene
  • Hexachlorocyclohexane
  • DDT
  • Polychlorinated Biphenyls