Organochlorines in Greenland marine fish, mussels and sediments

Shorthorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius), polar cod (Boreogadus saida), b lue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and sediments were sampled in Greenland 1994-1 995 at three locations at the west coast and one at the east coast. Fish li ver, mussel soft tissue and sediments were analysed for PCBs (10 congeners) , DDTs (pp'), HCHs (alpha, beta, gamma), HCB and trans-nonachlor. The overa ll geometric mean concentrations found for PCBs were 17 mu g kg(-1) wet wt. in shorthorn sculpin liver, 33 mu g kg(-1) wet wt. in polar cod liver, and 0.86 mu g kg(-1) wet wt. in blue mussels. For the three species, the geome tric mean concentrations for DDTs were 11, 36, and 0.39 mu g kg(-1) wet wt. , respectively; for HCHs: 8.7, 32 and 0.56 mu g kg(-1) wet wt., respectivel y; for HCB: 4.2, 11 and 0.06 mu g kg(-1) wet wt., respectively; and for tra ns-nonachlor: 6.3, 19 and 0.16 mu g kg(-1) wet wt., respectively. All organ ochlorines in the sediment samples were below the detection limit of 0.1 mu g kg(-1) dry weight. For sculpins and mussels, most organochlorine compoun ds were found to increase with increasing lipid content. The weight of muss els did not influence organochlorine concentrations, whereas organochlorine content in general increased with fish length of sculpins. The concentrati ons were found to be comparable to levels in other Arctic regions, but orde rs of magnitude lower than levels found in the southern part of the North S ea. Organochlorine concentrations in sculpins showed a decreasing trend fol lowing the ocean current flowing from north to south at the east coast and from south towards north at the west coast of Greenland. The proportion of higher chlorinated PCBs (Cl atoms greater than or equal to 6) in sculpin li ver followed the decreasing trend of PCB concentrations. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.