title: Persistent organic pollutants in tissues of the white-blooded Antarctic fish Champsocephalus gunnari and Chaenocephalus aceratus.
abstract: The global occurrence of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) continuously contributes to their accumulation also in remote areas such as the Antarctic Ocean. Antarctic fish, which hold high trophic positions but appear to possess low endogenous elimination rates for chemicals, are expected to bioaccumulate POPs with rising anthropogenic pollution. Using a chemical-analytical method, we measured concentrations of PCBs, PBDEs, HCBs, HCH and DDTs and determined toxic equivalents (TEQs) and bioanalytical equivalents (BEQs) in muscle and ovaries of Antarctic icefish caught in the Southern Ocean around Elephant Island. We used two species with different feeding habits and trophic web positions: the planktivorous Champsocephalus gunnari and the piscivorous Chaenocephalus aceratus. Our results revealed higher contaminant levels in ovary than in muscle tissues of both species. Most analytes concentrations and the TEQs (0.2-0.5) and BEQs (0.2) were lower as in temperate species. Comparison with literature data points to higher PCB (20-22 ng g(-1) lipid weight (lw)) and DDT (7-19.5 ng g(-1) lw) concentrations than those measured in icefish in the 90's. For the other contaminants, we could not identify temporal trends. We found a higher bioaccumulation of contaminants, particularly HCB and DDTs, in C. aceratus (6.2 & 19.5 ng g(-1) lw, respectively) than in C. gunnari (3.8 & 7.0 ng g(-1) lw, respectively). However, there was no general species-specific accumulation pattern of the different toxicant classes between the two icefish. Thus, the expected link between contaminant burdens of C. aceratus and C. gunnari and their ecological traits was only weakly supported for these species.
authors.affiliation: University of Basel, Department of Environmental Sciences, Programme Man-Society-Environment MGU, Vesalgasse 1, CH-4051 Basel, Switzerland. Electronic address: anneli.strobel@unibas.ch.
authors.forename: Anneli
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Strobel
authors.affiliation: Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 129, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.affiliation: University of Bern, Vetsuisse Faculty, Centre for Fish and Wildlife Health, Länggassstrasse 12, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: helmut.segner@vetsuisse.unibe.ch.
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Segner
authors.affiliation: University of Basel, Department of Environmental Sciences, Programme Man-Society-Environment MGU, Vesalgasse 1, CH-4051 Basel, Switzerland; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB Canada. Electronic address: patricia.holm@unibas.ch.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Burkhardt-Holm
authors.affiliation: Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 129, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland. Electronic address: markus.zenneg@empa.ch.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zennegg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D062312:Islands; D009132:Muscles / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D010053:Ovary / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D010473:Perciformes / Q000378:metabolism*; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics
chemical_list: D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls
keywords: Bioaccumulation; DR CALUX bioanalytical equivalents (BEQs); Icefish; Persistent organic pollutants; Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); Toxic equivalents (TEQs)