Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls , chlorinated pesticides, and heavy metals and other elements in tissues of belugas, Delphinapterus leucas, from Cook Inlet, Alaska

• Published in: Marine fisheries review Vol. 62; no. 3; pp. 81 - 98
• Main Authors: Becker, Paul R, Krahn, Margaret M, Mackey, Elizabeth A, Demiralp, Rabia, Schantz, Michele M, Epstein, Michael S, Donais, Mary Kate, Porter, Barbara J, Muir, Derek C.G, Wise, Stephen A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Superintendent of Documents 22.06.2000
• Subjects: Delphinapterus leucas; Marine; Alaska; USA, Alaska, Cook Inlet; INE, USA, Alaska, Cook Inlet
• ISSN: 0090-1830; 1939-2044

Tissues from Cook Inlet beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, that were collected as part of the Alaska Marine Mammal Tissue Archival Project were analyzed for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's), chlorinated pesticides, and heavy metals and other elements. Concentrations of total PCB's ( capital sigma PCB's), total DDT ( capital sigma DDT), chlordane compounds, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), dieldrin, mirex, toxaphene, and hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) measured in Cook Inlet beluga blubber were compared with those reported for belugas from two Arctic Alaska locations (Point Hope and Point Lay), Greenland, Arctic Canada, and the highly contaminated stock from the St. Lawrence estuary in eastern Canada. The Arctic and Cook Inlet belugas had much lower concentrations ( capital sigma PCB's and capital sigma DDT were an order of magnitude lower) than those found in animals from the St. Lawrence estuary. The Cook Inlet belugas had the lowest concentrations of all ( capital sigma PCB's averaged 1.49 plus or minus 0.70 and 0.79 plus or minus 0.56 mg/kg wet mass, and capital sigma DDT averaged 1.35 plus or minus 0.73 and 0.59 plus or minus 0.45 mg/kg in males and females, respectively). Concentrations in the blubber of the Cook Inlet males were significantly lower than those found in the males of the Arctic Alaska belugas ( capital sigma PCB's and capital sigma DDT were about half). The lower levels in the Cook Inlet animals might be due to differences in contaminant sources, food web differences, or different age distributions among the animals sampled. Cook Inlet males had higher mean and median concentrations than did females, a result attributable to the transfer of these compounds from mother to calf during pregnancy and during lactation. Liver concentrations of cadmium and mercury were lower in the Cook Inlet belugas (most cadmium values were <1 mg/kg and mercury values were 0.704-11.42 mg/kg wet mass), but copper levels were significantly higher in the Cook Inlet animals (3.97-123.8 mg/kg wet mass) than in Arctic Alaska animals and similar to those reported for belugas from Hudson Bay. Although total mercury levels were the lowest in the Cook Inlet population, methylmercury concentrations were similar among all three groups of the Alaska animals examined (0.34-2.11 mg/kg wet mass). As has been reported for the Point Hope and Point Lay belugas, hepatic concentrations of silver were relatively high in the Cook Inlet animals and positively correlated with mercury and selenium concentrations in the liver.