Pops in Marine Mammals in Nordic Arctic and NE Atlantic Areas During Three Decades Areas During Three Decades
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TemaNord 2011:564 TemaNord Ved Stranden 18 DK-1061 Copenhagen K www.norden.org “New” POPs in marine mammals in Nordic Arctic and NE Atlantic “New” POPs in marine mammals in Nordic Arctic and NE Atlantic areas during three decades areas during three decades Marine mammals hold a special position in the hearts of people inhabiting Nordic Arctic areas and in coastal communities around the North Atlantic Ocean as they are an essential part of the diet and traditional life-style. However, marine mammals are in a particularly vulnerable position as regards environmental pollutants, because of the large fat stores in their bodies which serve as a “magnet” to a large number of persistent and toxic pollutants. A Nordic Council of Ministers supported collaboration between Nor- way, Denmark/Greenland, Faroe Island, Iceland and Sweden set out to look for possible trends in “new” contaminants in marine mam- mals in Nordic Arctic waters. The “new” contaminants in focus are the brominated flame retardants including the PBDEs, methoxylated PBDEs, perfluorinated compounds including the PFOS family, and polychlorinated naphthalenes. In addition, a subset of the samples was analysed for brominated dioxins and dibenzofurans. The marine mammals studied were fin whale, minke whale, pilot whale, white- sided dolphins, harbour porpoise, ringed seal and hooded seal. The study aims at giving a wide scope of the presence of these “new” contaminants in marine mammals in recent time and going back to the 1980s using samples from specimen banks. TemaNord 2011:564 ISBN 978-92-893-2282-9 2011-564, omslag.indd 1 07-11-2011 07:38:43 “New” POPs in marine mam- mals in Nordic Arctic and NE Atlantic areas during three decades Maria Dam, Bert van Bavel, Frank Rigét, Anna Rotander, Anuschka Polder, Guðjón A. Auðunsson, Dorete Bloch, Gísli A. Víkingsson, Bjarni Mikkelsen, Geir Wing Gabrielsen and Kjetil Sagerup TemaNord 2011:564 ”New” POPs in marine mammals in Nordic Arctic and NE Atlantic areas during three decades TemaNord 2011:564 ISBN 978-92-893-2282-9 © Nordic Council of Ministers, Copenhagen 2011 Print: Kailow Express ApS Cover photo: Kjell-Arne Fagerheim, Maria Dam, Christian M. Glahder, Gísli A. Víkingsson Copies: 40 Printed in Denmark This publication has been published with financial support by the Nordic Council of Ministers. But the contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views, policies or recommen- dations of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Nordic co-operation Nordic co-operation is one of the world’s most extensive forms of regional collaboration, involv- ing Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland. Nordic co-operation has firm traditions in politics, the economy, and culture. It plays an im- portant role in European and international collaboration, and aims at creating a strong Nordic community in a strong Europe. Nordic co-operation seeks to safeguard Nordic and regional interests and principles in the global community. Common Nordic values help the region solidify its position as one of the world’s most innovative and competitive. Nordic Council of Ministers Ved Stranden 18 DK-1061 København K Phone (+45) 3396 0200 www.norden.org Content Preface........................................................................................................................................................ 7 Foreword ................................................................................................................................................... 9 Summary ................................................................................................................................................ 11 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 13 2. Presentation of compounds ..................................................................................................... 15 2.1 Brominated flame retardants – polybrominated diphenyl ether.................. 15 2.2 Methoxylated brominated diphenyl ethers........................................................... 16 References ...................................................................................................................................... 18 2.3 Other brominated flame retardants......................................................................... 19 2.4 Polychlorinated naphthalenes ................................................................................... 23 References ...................................................................................................................................... 27 2.5 Perfluorinated compounds ......................................................................................... 28 References ...................................................................................................................................... 32 3. Presentation of marine mammal species ............................................................................ 33 3.1 Abbreviations used ........................................................................................................ 33 3.2 Ringed seal (Phoca hispida)........................................................................................ 33 3.3 Hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) from the West Ice ...................................... 34 References ...................................................................................................................................... 35 References ...................................................................................................................................... 37 3.4 Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus) .................................. 37 3.5 The long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas) ............................................ 39 References ...................................................................................................................................... 40 3.6 Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) .......................................................... 41 References ...................................................................................................................................... 43 3.7 Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) ......................................................................... 44 References ...................................................................................................................................... 46 4. Materials ......................................................................................................................................... 47 4.1 Sampling ............................................................................................................................ 47 4.2 Sample selection and preparation ............................................................................ 47 4.3 Ringed seal samples from Greenland ...................................................................... 48 4.4 Hooded seal samples from the West Ice................................................................. 48 4.5 Harbour porpoise samples from Iceland and Norway ...................................... 49 4.6 White-sided dolphin samples from the Faroe Islands ...................................... 50 4.7 Pilot whale samples from the Faroe Islands ......................................................... 50 4.8 Minke whale samples from Norway, Greenland and Iceland ......................... 51 4.9 Fin whale samples from Iceland................................................................................ 52 References ...................................................................................................................................... 53 5. Methods ........................................................................................................................................... 55 5.1 Chemical analyses .......................................................................................................... 55 5.2 Data treatment................................................................................................................. 63 References ...................................................................................................................................... 64 6. Results.............................................................................................................................................. 65 6.1 Brominated flame retardants – PBDE ..................................................................... 65 6.2 Methoxylated brominated diphenyl ethers........................................................... 71 6.3 Brominated flame retardants – non-PBDEs .......................................................... 74 6.4 Polychlorinated naphthalenes ................................................................................... 76 6.5 Perfluorinated alkylated compounds ...................................................................... 80 References ...................................................................................................................................... 87 7. Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 89 Acknowledgements ...........................................................................................................................