HYDROXYLATED AND METHYLSULFONYL POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYL METABOLITES IN ALBATROSSES FROM MIDWAY ATOLL, NORTH PACIFIC-OCEAN

Concentrations of hydroxylated metabolites of polychlorinated biphenyl s (PCBs) (OH-PCBs) and methylsulfonyl metabolites of PCBs (MeSO2-PCBs) were determined in plasma and liver of albatrosses collected from the Midway Atoll in the central North Pacific Ocean. The mean total conce ntrations of OH-PCBs in plasma of Laysan albatrosses (Diomedea immutab ilis) and black-footed albatrosses (Diomedea nigripes) were 11.5 and 2 7.1 ng/g wet weight, respectively. Total concentrations of OH-PCBs wer e only one- to fivefold less than those of total PCBs. 4-hydroxy-2,2', 3,4',5,5',6-heptachlorinated biphenyl and 4-hydroxy-2,2',3,4',5,5'-hex achlorinated biphenyl were the predominant polychlorinated biphenylols , constituting 70 to 90% of the total OH-PCBs. Concentrations of MeSO2 -PCBs in liver were between 10.6 and 77 ng/g, lipid weight, approximat ely 250 times less than those of total PCBs. The MeSO2-PCBs congeners retained in the liver were dominated by those having the methylsulfony l group in the 3-position.