DETERMINATION OF TOXAPHENE IN HUMAN-MILK FROM NICARAGUA AND IN FISH AND MARINE MAMMALS FROM THE NORTHEASTERN ATLANTIC AND THE NORTH-SEA

Concentrations of toxaphene (polychlorinated monoterpenes, chloroborna nes) were determined in human milk samples from Nicaragua and in fish from the North Sea. Relatively high toxaphene levels were found in the Nicaraguan human milk samples. The lack of correlation between the nu mber of children of the mothers and toxaphene levels in their milk sug gests a compensation of the elimination of toxaphene by a regularly hi gh toxaphene intake. The increasing trend of toxaphene concentrations in North Sea fish sampled further away from the European coast suggest s an aerial transport of toxaphene from the American continent to Euro pe.