Trace element levels in harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) and hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) from the Greenland Sea. A multivariate approach

Concentrations of the essential trace elements, iron, copper, zinc and sele nium and the non-essential elements arsenic, cadmium, total mercury and lea d, were measured in the meat, liver and kidney of two species of seals, har p seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) and hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) col lected in the Greenland Sea. The spread among the individual seals was cons iderable. However, multivariate statistics simplified the evaluation of the data. The muscle tissue contained lower levels of the elements than kidney and liver. The kidney and liver tissue were also different, in particular with higher levels of iron in the liver and higher levels of cadmium in the kidney. Species differences were clear in both liver and kidney tissue, wi th higher levels of most of the elements in the hooded seals, while the har p seals had a higher burden of arsenic in the two tissues. Male hooded seal s had higher levels of mercury and selenium than the females in all tissues . For harp seal there was a slight difference between the sexes in the musc le tissue,, while no difference was observed in the liver and kidney tissue s. The juvenile seals generally had lower levels of the elements in their t issues than the adults, although copper and zinc were higher in the muscles and livers of the juveniles as was iron in the muscles. No correlation bet ween age and trace element levels in the tissues of the adult seals was obs erved. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.