Heavy metals, organochlorines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sperm whales stranded in the southern North Sea during the 1994/1995 winter

Seven male sperm whales stranded on the southern North Sea coast during the 1994/95 winter were analysed for stable pollutant concentrations in muscle , liver, kidney and blubber: heavy metals (total and organic Hg, Se, Zn, Pb , Ni, Cd, Fe, Cr, Cu and Ti), organochlorines (PCBs and pesticides) and pol ycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), High concentrations of Cd (up to 300 mu g/g dw in kidney), Hg (up to 130 mu g/g dw in liver) and PCBs (up to 5 m u g/g dw in blubber) were detected, but not considered as the direct cause of mortality, while their possible indirect influence on the health status and/or behaviour of the North Atlantic sperm whale population is discussed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.