CONCENTRATIONS AND PATTERNS OF ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS IN ATLANTIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS (LAGENORHYNCHUS-ACUTUS) FROM IRISH AND SCOTTISH COASTAL WATERS

Chlorobiphenyls (CBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) have been d etermined in the blubber of 17 Atlantic white-sided dolphins stranded at Killala Bay, Co Mayo, Ireland and five from the Scottish coast. The concentrations of the contaminants measured range from 773 to 63400 m u g kg(-1) for Sigma CB and from 160 to 54 600 mu g kg(-1) for Sigma D DT. The concentrations of the CBs and OCPs is highly dependent on the age, sex, reproductive state and nutritional condition of the animals in addition to the intake via the food web. Principal Components Analy sis (PCA) has been used to study the variation of chemical patterns (d ata ratioed to CB 153). Immature animals (< 6 years), mature males and primo-gravid females, and lactating females could be distinguished on the basis of their contaminant patterns. This paper describes the dif ferent processes of bioaccumulation and metabolism of organochlorine c ontaminants (OCs) in this species. Crown copyright (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.