EXTRACTABLE ORGANOHALOGENS IN TISSUES OF BELUGA WHALES FROM THE CANADIAN ARCTIC AND THE ST. LAWRENCE ESTUARY

Samples of blubber, brain, kidney, liver, and muscle of individual bel uga whales were extracted and analyzed for extractable organic Cl (EOC l), Br (EOBr), and I (EOI) by neutron activation analysis. The highest levels of EOCl (554 mu g g(-1) lipid) were found in the kidney of Arc tic beluga and the lowest (24 mu g g(-1) lipid) in the blubber. Levels in brain and liver lipids were on average of equal magnitude. The une qual distribution of EOCl in tissue lipids is in marked contrast to th e equal distribution, in lipid, demonstrated for organochlorines such as DDTs and PCBs by a number of investigations. The distribution of br ominated (EOBr) and iodinated (EOI) compounds was similar and markedly different from that of EOCl. The tissue distribution of EOCl seems to be related to the proportion to polar lipids in the tissues. Beluga f rom St. Lawrence had significantly higher brain EOCl levels than the A rctic samples whereas the levels of EOCl in liver and kidney were high er in the Arctic whales. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.