DDT Compounds and PCB Isomers and Congeners in Weddell Seals and Their Fate in the Antarctic Marine Ecosystem

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The whole-body burdens and concentrations of ZDDT (the sum of p,p,′-DDE and p,p′-DDT) and PCBs in the Weddell seal, Leptonychotes weddelli, caught near Syowa Station, Antarctica, were determined by detailed biometric measurements of their organs and tissues and analyses of ZDDT and PCBs in them. The concentration levels of ZDDT and PCBs in Weddell seals were much lower than those in various species of marine mammals from other oceans. The low levels may be attributable to the low concentration of these chemicals in the food of Weddell seals and in the sea water under antarctic fast ice. However, the concentration ratio of ZDDT between the food organisms of seals and sea water under antarctic fast ice was higher than those of other ocean ecosystems.