title: Organotin pollution in deep-sea fish from the northwestern Mediterranean.
abstract: Aquatic pollution resulting from extensive usage of organotin compounds has been of great concern due to their deleterious effects in nontarget organisms. However, organotin contamination in deep-sea ecosystems has been rarely studied. The presentwork attempted to determine butyltin and phenyltin compounds in deep-sea fish collected between 1000 and 1800 m depth in the NW Mediterranean. The concentration of tributyltin (TBT) and its degradation products, mono- (MBT) and dibutyltin (DBT), aswell astriphenyltin (TPT),and mono- anddiphenyltin (MPT, DPT) was determined in different tissues (liver, gills, digestive tube, and muscle) of several fish species. Total butyltin residues were up to 175 ng/g wet wt, and they were comparable to levels found in coastal fish collected along the Catalan coast. In contrast, deep-sea fish contained much higher levels of phenyltins (up to 1700 ng/g wet wt), and particularly TPT (up to 1430 ng/g wet wt), than previously reported concentrations in shallow-water organisms. The obtained results confirm the long-range transport of organotin compounds to the deep-sea environment, and the subsequent exposure of fish inhabiting nonpoint source areas. The use of TPT in agriculture or as an antifouling agent, its transport to the deep-sea environment associated to particulate matter, and its nonbiodegradable nature in the food chain may account for the high residue levels detected in deep-sea organisms.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Chemistry Department, IIQAB-CSIC C/Jordi Girona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Borghi
authors.forename: Cinta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Porte
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D009947:Organotin Compounds / Q000032:analysis / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014220:Trialkyltin Compounds / Q000032:analysis / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*
chemical_list: D009947:Organotin Compounds; D014220:Trialkyltin Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C011559:tributyltin; C030665:triphenyltin