PCDD/F and PCB concentrations in Arctic ringed seals (Phoca hispida) have not changed between 1981 and 2000

Abstract

Concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and dibenzofurans (PCDF) and of non-ortho-, mono-ortho- and di-ortho-substituted polychlorinated biphenyls (NO-CB, MO-CB and DO-CB) were measured in blubber of ringed seals sampled at Holman, NWT, in 1981, 1991, 1996 and 2000. Total PCDD and PCDF concentrations were usually below approx. 10 and 5 pg/g wet wt., respectively, and did not change significantly between 1981 and 2000, although there were sporadic temporal differences in some congeners. Total NO-CB, MO-CB and DO-CB concentrations were below approx. 1 ng/g, 250 ng/g and 1 microg/g wet wt. respectively; none of the total PCB concentrations changed significantly over the sampling period. Neither PCDD nor PCDF concentrations differed between males and females, nor did they increase with age in male samples. MO-CB and DO-CB concentrations increased with age in males, but not in females, and concentrations of total MO-CB and DO-CB were usually lower in females than in males. Changes in the distribution of PCB congeners between the 1980s and the 1990s are consistent with atmospheric transport processes becoming increasingly important in the introduction of PCBs to the Arctic in recent years.