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- Title
Bioaccumulation profiles of polychlorinated biphenyl congeners and organochlorine pesticides in Ganges River dolphins
- Authors
Kannan, K.; Tanabe, S.; Senthilkumar, K.; Sinha, R. K.; Giesy, J. P.
- Abstract
Isomer-specific concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) including non-, mono-, and di-ortho-substituted congeners, DDT and itsmetabolites, hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) isomers, chlordane compounds, and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) were determined in river dolphin blubber and prey fishes collected during 1993 through 1996 from the River Ganges in India. Concentrations of organochlorines were also measuredin the milk and liver of dolphins, benthic invertebrates, and sediments. The DDTs and PCBs were the predominant compounds found in dolphin tissues and fish that comprise the diet of dolphins. Concentrationsof DDTs and PCBs in the blubber of dolphins were in the range of 30 to 120 and 1.5 to 25 micro g/g, lipid weight, respectively. Penta- and hexachlorobiphenyls collectively accounted for 68 to 80% of the total PCB concentrations in river dolphins. Hexachlorobiphenyl congener 138 (2,2',3,4,4',5'-) was the most abundant in dolphin blubber and prey fishes. The isomer/congener pattern of PCBs and organochlorine pesticides suggested that there is less metabolism due to cytochrome P450 enzymes in Ganges river dolphins than in marine or terrestrial mammals. The mean 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin equivalents (TEQs) estimated in river dolphin blubber was greater than those that can cause adverse effects in mink. Comparison of organochlorine concentrations in river dolphins with those of the values reported for samples analyzed during 1988 through 1992 suggested that the contamination by these compounds has increased in the River Ganges.
- Subjects
BIOACCUMULATION; PESTICIDES; POLLUTION; POLYCHLORINATED biphenyls
- Publication
Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry, 1999, Vol 18, Issue 7, p1511
- ISSN
0730-7268
- Publication type
Article