Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1987;43(1):39-46.
doi: 10.1016/0269-7491(87)90166-7.

Gain and loss rates and biological half-life of PCBs and DDE in the bodies of adelie penguins

Affiliations

Gain and loss rates and biological half-life of PCBs and DDE in the bodies of adelie penguins

A N Subramanian et al. Environ Pollut. 1987.

Abstract

The gain and loss rates and the biological half-life of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and p,p'-DDE in wild birds were calculated using the values on burdens of these compounds in the bodies of adelie penguins in a previous report (Subramanian et al., 1986). The daily loss rate of PCBs (0.26%) was found to be higher than DDT compounds (0.12%) resulting in the longer biological half-life of the latter compounds (580 days) than PCBs (270 days). Hence, once DDT compounds are absorbed they are more persistent in the organisms' bodies due to their high lipophilicity and comparatively less metabolisable nature than PCBs.

PubMed Disclaimer

LinkOut - more resources