title: Lipid-soluble and water-soluble arsenic compounds in blubber of ringed seal (Pusa hispida).
abstract: High concentrations of arsenic were observed in the blubber of ringed seals (Pusa hispida) in our previous study. To better understand the arsenic accumulation in blubber of marine mammals, arsenicals in the blubber of ringed seal were characterized using high performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICPMS). The most predominant water-soluble arsenical in the blubber was dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), in spite of the predominance of arsenobetaine in other tissues. Lipid-soluble fraction was hydrolyzed under mild (tetraethylammonium hydroxide (TEAH) hydrolysis) and strong (NaOH hydrolysis) conditions, and then an aliquot of hydrolysate was injected onto HPLC-ICPMS. Both TEAH-labile and TEAH-stable/NaOH-labile lipid-soluble fractions contained precursors of DMA. These results suggest that the blubber might be the pool of DMA and DMA-containing precursors in ringed seals.
authors.affiliation: Center for Marine Environmental Studies (CMES), Ehime University, Bunkyo-cho 2-5, Matsuyama 790-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Ken-Ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ebisuda
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kunito
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fujihara
authors.forename: Reiji
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.forename: Shinsuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanabe