PARENT SESSION
PS1 - Wildlife Toxicology
Sunday, 17 November 2002
8:00 AM to 6:30 PM
Exhibit Hall

(P024) Contamination by PCDD/DFs and coplanar PCBs in albatross from North Pacific and southern ocean.

Watanabe, Mafumi^*,1, Kunisue, Tatsuya¹, Iwata, Hisato¹, Tanaka, Hiroyuki², Tanabe, Shinsuke¹, ¹ Center for Marine Environmental Studies, Ehime University, Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan² National Research Institute for Fishery Environment of Inland Sea, Fishery Research Agency, Ohno-cho, Hiroshima, Japan

ABSTRACT- PCDD/DFs and coplanar PCBs were determined in five albatross species from North Pacific and Southern Ocean. Black-footed and Laysan albatrosses from North Pacific retained PCDD/DFs and coplanar PCBs to higher levels than albatrosses from southern oceans, indicating that emission sources of these contaminants were more in the northern hemisphere. Residue levels in northern albatross were comparable or higher than those in terrestrial and coastal birds from Japan, suggesting the specific exposure and accumulation of PCDD/DFs and coplanar PCBs in albatrosses. Compared to terrestrial avian species, proportions of PCDFs and coplanar PCBs in albatrosses were higher, implying that these toxic chemicals have higher transportability by air and water than PCDDs. Variation of composition of dioxin-related compounds among albatross species were smaller than those in terrestrial species, indicating that contamination patterns were equalized among open oceans. While albatrosses from southern oceans retained lower levels of TEQs, adverse effects on PCDD/DFs and coplanar PCBs to black-footed and Laysan albatrosses of North Pacific may be suspected from high TEQ levels.

Key words: Albatross, PCDDs, PCDFs, coplanar PCBs