PH21 Semi-Volatile Pollutants in Polar and Alpine Ecosystems
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Thursday
(PH243) Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in ringed seals from the White, Barents and Kara seas, Russia.
Savinova, Tatiana1, Muir, Derek2, Savinov, Vladimir1, Dahle, Salve1, Alexeeva, Lyudmila3, Chernik, Galina3, Svetochev, Vladislav4, Boltunov, Andrey5, Belikov, Stanislav5, 1 Akvaplan-niva, Polar Environmental Centre, Tromsoe, Norway2 National Water Research Institute, Environment Canada, Burlington, Canada3 Centre for Environmental Chemistry (CEC) of Scientific Production Association "Typhoon", Obninsk, Russia4 Northern Department of the Polar Research Institute on Marine Fishery abd Oceanography, Arkhangelsk, Russia5 All-Russia Research Institute on Nature Protection, Moscow, Russia
ABSTRACT- Ringed seals (Phoca hispida) play a key ecological role in the Arctic ecosystems. They are the main prey species of polar bears and the most important natural resource for many indigenous people in coastal areas of the circumpolar Arctic. There are relatively few data on levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in ringed seals from the Russian Arctic. The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) Secretariat and Nordic Council of Ministers supported an additional study on POP (especially new compounds) levels in ringed seals from this region. Ringed seals tissues were sampled in 2001-2002 in three different areas of the Russian Arctic: White, Barents and Kara seas. Blubber samples were analysed for a wide range of POPs, including , DDT-family, CBs (tetra-, penta- and hexachlorobenzene), HCHs (
-, 
- and 
-isomers), chlordane compounds (oxychlordane, cis- and trans-chlordane, trans-nonachlor, heptachlor), mirex, endrin, methoxychlor, endosulfan (- and -), PCBs, toxaphene (parlar-26,-50 and -62), brominated flame-retardants (BDE -28, -47, -99, -100, -153, -154 and -183), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxines and dibenzofurans. The results indicate an increasing of POP levels in ringed seals eastwards (except HCB, toxaphenes, PCDDs/PCDFs), reflecting different sources of contamination. The highest PCDD/PCDF levels were found in ringed seals from the White Sea, probably, due to local contamination sources (paper industry, smelters etc.). Toxaphene and PBDE levels in blubber of seals from the Russian Arctic were higher than those in seals from the Canadian Arctic, but lower compared to seals from the Baltic. These first results from the Russian Arctic on non-ortho PCB, PCDD/PCDF, toxaphene and PBDE levels in ringed seals suggest that they are ubiquitous contaminants in the marine environment, and that there is a need for further investigation of the sources and fate of these contaminants in the Russian Arctic.
Key words: ringed seal, POPs, Russian Arctic