Occurrence of hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls in the brain of cetaceans stranded along the Japanese coast.
Levels of hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls (OH-PCBs) and PCBs were measured in the brain of melon-headed whales (MW: Peponocephala electra), striped dolphins (SD: Stenella coeruleoalba) and finless porpoises (FP: Neophocaena phocaenoides) stranded along the Japanese coast during 2002-2003. Levels of OH-PCBs (including identified and unknown OH-P(5)CB, -H(6)CB, -H(7)CB and O(8)CB congeners) in the brain of MW, SD and FP were in the range of 20-290, 21-330 and 170-240pg/g wet wt., respectively. Observed OH-PCB levels were 2-3 orders of magnitude lower than PCBs in the same individuals. OH-PCBs/PCBs ratios in MW, SD and FP brain were lower than those in blood of humans and wildlife and in the brain of polar bears reported previously. OH-PCBs were also detected in maternal and fetal brain of SD (1 pair), suggesting transfer of OH-PCBs into the fetal brain of odontocete cetaceans. When fetus/dam concentration ratios of OH-PCB congeners detected in maternal and fetal brain were estimated, the values were higher than those of PCB congeners, implying that OH-PCBs in maternal blood could be more easily transferred into fetal brain via placenta than PCBs.
Kunisue
Tatsuya
T
Center for Marine Environmental Studies (CMES), Ehime University, Bunkyo-cho 2-5, Matsuyama 790-8577, Japan.
Sakiyama
Takanori
T
Yamada
Tadasu K
TK
Takahashi
Shin
S
Tanabe
Shinsuke
S
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002591:Cetacea / Q000378:metabolism*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D007564:Japan; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D012623:Seawater; D013997:Time Factors; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*
D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls