Endangered Vancouver Island marmots (Marmota vancouverensis): sentinels of atmospherically delivered contaminants to British Columbia, Canada.
We characterized legacy and new contaminants in the highly endangered Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada) marmot and found generally low blood and fat concentrations of a complex mixture of pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), -dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), -dibenzofurans (PCDFs), polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) in their tissues. The dominance of the more volatile alpha-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) pesticides and the lesser chlorinated PCB congeners suggests that atmospheric processes largely explain the contamination of this high-altitude herbivore.
Marine Environmental Quality Section, Institute of Ocean Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, P.O. Box 6000, 9860 West Saanich Road, Sidney, British Columbia V8L 4B2, Canada.
Gillian B
GB
Lichota
Malcolm
M
McAdie
Peter S
PS
Ross
D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000032:analysis; D001572:Benzofurans / Q000032:analysis; D001955:British Columbia; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D004147:Dioxins / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D008392:Marmota / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism*; D010575:Pesticides / Q000032:analysis; D011075:Polybrominated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis
D001572:Benzofurans; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D004147:Dioxins; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D010575:Pesticides; D011075:Polybrominated Biphenyls; C023614:dibenzofuran; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls