DISTRIBUTION OF ORGANOCHLORINE POLLUTANTS IN ATLANTIC SEA-TURTLES

Tissues from juvenile loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and Kemp's ridley ( Lepidochelys kempi) turtles stranded in Virginia and North Carolina we re analyzed by capillary gas chromatography to determine concentration s of organochlorine pollutants. The predominant organochlorines were p olychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), DDT and its breakdown products, DDE a nd DDD. Organochlorine concentrations were related to tissue type and relative lipid content, Subcutaneous fat had the highest lipid content (mean = 49.3% wet mass, SD = 19.1) and organochlorine concentrations (mean = 252 mu g/kg, SD = 196), followed by liver, kidney, and pectora l muscle, Subsequent analyses of subcutaneous fat and liver from Atlan tic loggerheads and Kemp's ridleys yielded a range of organochlorine c ontaminant concentrations of 55.4-1730 mu g/kg and 7.46-607 mu g/kg, r espectively. Five congener groups accounted for a mean of 66.0% of the total PCBs in the liver (SD = 15.9). A similar pattern was seen in th e subcutaneous fat. Congener #153/132 (IUPAC nomenclature) was the maj or congener group present, followed by #138/158, #180, #118, and #187. Selected sea turtle tissues were extracted using a modified Bligh and Dyer procedure, and lipid classes were examined. Subcutaneous fat con tained the highest proportion of triglycerides, followed by liver and pectoral muscle. This pattern corresponds to the pattern of organochlo rine accumulation.