ORGANOCHLORINE PESTICIDES AND POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYL CONGENERS IN WILD TERRESTRIAL MAMMALS AND BIRDS FROM CHUBU REGION, JAPAN - INTERSPECIES COMPARISON OF THE RESIDUE LEVELS AND COMPOSITIONS

In order to understand the residue levels of organochlorine compounds (OCs) and their accumulation patterns in wildlife inhabiting Chubu reg ion, Japan, the concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), he xachlorocyclohexane isomers (HCHs), DDT compounds (DDTs) and hexachlor obenzene (HCB) were measured in 8 species of terrestrial mammals and 1 0 species of birds. In view of feeding habits, the contamination level s of OCs were found to be higher in omnivorous mammals than in herbivo rous ones, and in fish-eating ones and raptores than in omnivorous bir ds. In fox and dog, PCB 180 (2, 2', 3, 4, 4', 5, 5'-heptachlorobipheny l) was the most dominant PCB congener, while in the other species PCB- 153 (2, 2', 3, 4', 5, 5'-hexachlorobiphenyl) was the most persistent. The ratios of lower chlorinated PCB congeners (tri- to tetra-) to tota l PCBs were larger in fish-eating birds than in the other birds. The r esults indicate that the compositions of PCB congeners would reflect t he differences of feeding habits and xenobiotic metabolizing systems a mong each species. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.