title: Occurrence of anthropogenic and naturally-produced organohalogenated compounds in tissues of Black Sea harbour porpoises.
abstract: Harbour porpoises are one of the three cetacean species inhabiting the Black Sea. This is the first study to report on polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and naturally-produced compounds, methoxylated PBDEs (MeO-PBDEs) and polybrominated hexahydroxanthene derivatives (PBHDs), in tissues (kidney, brain, blubber, liver, muscle) of male harbour porpoises (11 adults, 9 juveniles) from the Black Sea. Lipid-normalized concentrations decreased from muscle>blubber>liver>kidney>brain for the sum of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and for the sum of PBDEs. Among the naturally-produced compounds, levels of PBHDs were higher than of MeO-PBDEs, with tri-BHD and 6-MeO-BDE 47 being the dominant compounds for both groups, respectively. Concentrations of naturally-produced compounds decreased from blubber to brain, similarly to the sum of DDT and metabolites (DDXs). Concentrations of DDXs were highest, followed by PCBs, HCB, PBHDs, PBDEs and MeO-PBDEs. Levels of PCBs and PBDEs in blubber were lower than concentrations reported for harbour porpoises from the North Sea, while concentrations of DDXs were higher.
authors.affiliation: Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium. liesbeth.weijs@ua.ac.be
authors.forename: Liesbeth
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Weijs
authors.forename: Krishna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Neels
authors.forename: Ronny
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Blust
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Covaci
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005061:Europe, Eastern; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005843:Geography; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000032:analysis / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D006846:Hydrocarbons, Halogenated / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D008055:Lipids / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D050741:Phocoena / Q000378:metabolism*; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D014966:Xanthenes / Q000032:analysis / Q000493:pharmacokinetics
chemical_list: C542113:2,5,7-tribromo-4a-bromomethyl-1,1-dimethyl-2,3,4,4a,9,9a-hexahydro-1H-xanthene; C542114:2,7-dibromo-4a-bromomethyl-1,1-dimethyl-2,3,4,4a,9,9a-hexahydro-1H-xanthene; D005411:Flame Retardants; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; D006846:Hydrocarbons, Halogenated; D008055:Lipids; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D014966:Xanthenes