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Persistent organic pollutants in the diet of harbor seals ( Phoca vitulina ) inhabiting puget sound, washington (USA), and the strait of Georgia, British Columbia (Canada): A food basket approach
Author(s) -
Cullon Donna L.,
Jeffries Steven J.,
Ross Peter S.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1897/04-585r.1
Subject(s) - phoca , sound (geography) , harbor seal , pollutant , fishery , geography , ecology , biology , oceanography , geology
Harbor seals ( Phoca vitulina ) inhabiting Puget Sound (WA, USA) recently were found to be seven times more contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) than those inhabiting the adjacent Strait of Georgia (BC, Canada). We carried out a food basket approach to approximate realistic dietary exposures of both new (e.g., polybrominated diphenyl ethers [PBDEs]) and legacy (e.g., dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane [DDT]) persistent organic pollutants (POPs) for these harbor seals. Food basket homogenates, each consisting of over 200 individual prey items, were constructed using documented dietary preferences for harbor seals in these basins, and analyzed for organochlorine pesticides, flame retardants, and other persistent contaminants. Concentration rankings for the major contaminant classes in the Puget Sound food basket were sumPCBs > sumPBDEs > sumDDT, and for the Strait of Georgia food basket were sumPCBs > sumDDT > sumPBDEs, highlighting the emergence of PBDEs as a significant concern in the regional environment. Consistent with observations in harbor seals, PCB concentrations in the Puget Sound food basket were seven times higher than in its Strait of Georgia counterpart. Based on our food basket results, the estimated daily intake of sumPCB toxic equivalents to dioxin by Puget Sound harbor seals exceeds some wildlife consumption guidelines for PCBs. Our results indicate that both legacy and new POPs present a health risk to these marine mammals.