PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANT, TRACE-METAL AND RADIONUCLIDE CONCENTRATIONS IN BOTTOM ORGANISMS OF THE BARENTS SEA AND ADJACENT AREAS

On data of the Parents Sea and some regions of the Kara, White, Norweg ian and Greenland Seas transregional study, carried out in 1991-1992, concentrations of various contaminants in benthic algae and invertebra tes are defined. According to the results of two-way ANOVA the conclus ion about the absence of spatial variability in concentrations of POP, TM and K-40 in the investigated shelf biota is done. Concentrations o f the analysed substances in organisms and the differences in contamin ant bioaccumulation by plants and animals of various taxons are presen ted in a form of a table, In spite of the discrepant information about the background level of contamination, given by different authors, th e obtained data to a greater degree corresponds to the idea of the bac kground concentration of contaminants in biota, than testify to the ma n-induced pollution of the investigated area. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scienc e Ltd. All rights reserved.