CHLORINATED HYDROCARBONS IN SEABIRDS FROM THE BARENTS SEA AREA

This study presents preliminary results on the levels of organochlorin es (OCs) in three seabird species: common elder (Somateria mollissima) , kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) and glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus) f rom the Barents Sea area, including Frans Josef Land, Ny-Alesund, Bjor moya and Horrnoya, in July-August, 1991. Kittiwake was the only specie s collected at all four sampling areas, and all three species were sam pled only at Ny-Alesund. Samples of liver, fat, muscle and brain tissu e were analyzed for chlorinated pesticides, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), h exachlorocyclohexanes (alpha,beta,gamma-HCH), chlordanes (oxychlordane , trans-nonachlor and heptachlor epoxide), the DDT group (op', pp'DDT, DDD and DDE) and the industrial chemical polychlorinated biphenyls (P CBs). In all species, the highest OC levels were found in fat tissue, followed by liver, muscle and brain. PCBs were the major OC contaminan ts, followed by the DDT group, the chlordane group, HCB and the HCHs. Only low levels of HCHs were found. The lowest mean level of Sigma PCB - sum of concentrations of the 19 individual congeners (2.8 mu g/kg w et weight (w.w.)) - was found in the liver of juvenile common elder fr om Frans Josef Land. The highest mean level of Sigma PCB (15 980 mu g/ kg w.w.) was found in the fat of adult glaucous gulls from Ny-Alesund. There were no significant geographical trends in OC contamination in the species investigated. However, the OC levels in kittiwake were hig hest at Bjornoya. The OC contamination levels in seabirds from the Bar ents Sea region are in general lower in the 1990s than in past decades .