Organochlorine residues in harbour porpoise and bottlenose dolphins stranded on the coast of Scotland, 1988-1991

David E. Wells*, Lesley A. Campbell, Harry M. Ross, Paul M. Thompson, Christina H. Lockyer

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The organochlorine (OC) residues, chlorobiphenyls (CBs), DDT and its metabolites, dieldrin, hexachlorobenzene and technical chlordane mixtures have been determined in the blubber of harbour porpoise and bottlenose dolphins from around the north and east coasts of Scotland as a result of strandings and bycatches between 1988 and 1991. The concentrations of OCs range from some of the lowest values reported at 280 μg kg-1 for t-CBs, 145 μg kg-1 for t-DDT and 71 μg kg-1 for dieldrin to some of the highest values, 23 000 μg kg-1 for t-CBs, and 10 200 μg kg-1 for t-DDT. OC levels were correlated with the age and sex of the sample of harbour porpoise and bottlenose dolphins from the Moray Firth area. The study confirms that the concentration of these compounds is highly dependent on co-factors of age and sex, and that data from single or small numbers of animals may be of limited value in comparing information on organochlorine residues in mammals within or between regions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)77-99
Number of pages23
JournalScience of the Total Environment, The
Volume151
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 Jul 1994

Bibliographical note

The authors wish to acknowledge D. Campbell, D. Finlayson, A. Kelly and I. Echarri for their help in the chemical analysis of some of the samples, Miss A. Shanks for the statistical analysis, T.E. Tooby for the information on pesticide revocation history and J. Hislop for his helpful comments and encouragement.

Keywords

  • Age
  • Chlorobiphenyl
  • DDT
  • Dieldrin
  • Dolphin
  • Organochlorine
  • Porpoise
  • Sex
  • Strandings

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