Premium
Hepatic butyltin concentrations in beluga whales ( Delphinapterus leucas ) from the St Lawrence Estuary and northern Quebec, Canada
Author(s) -
StLouis Richard,
de Mora Stephen,
Pelletier Émilien,
Doidge Bill,
Leclair Daniel,
Mikaelian Igor,
Martineau Daniel
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
applied organometallic chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1099-0739
pISSN - 0268-2605
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-0739(200004)14:4<218::aid-aoc983>3.0.co;2-r
Subject(s) - beluga whale , beluga , tributyltin , estuary , leucas , cetacea , fishery , environmental chemistry , chemistry , ecology , biology , arctic
Butyltin (tributyltin TBT; dibutyltin DBT and monobutyltin MBT) speciation was measured in the liver of beluga whales from the St Lawrence Estuary and Hudson Strait (northern Quebec). Using GC–MS, liver samples were analysed from 21 beluga whales found dead, stranded along the shores of the St Lawrence during the period 1995–1998. In all cases, including a neonate specimen, the liver was contaminated with butyltin compounds with concentrations in the range 0.04–2.1 mg Sn kg −1 on a dry weight basis. Liver samples of five beluga whales from Hudson Strait obtained in the summer of 1998 were also analysed. For these animals, hepatic butyltin concentrations were consistently below the detection limit (<0.5 ng Sn g −1 for MBT and <0.2 ng Sn g −1 for DBT and TBT). Compared with published data on the contamination by TBT of the marine mammals of the St Lawrence in 1988, these contemporary results clearly indicate that the level of contamination of the beluga whales in this coastal marine ecosystem has not decreased ten years after regulating the use of TBT‐based antifoulants on small craft. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.