Congener-specific analysis of chloronaphthalenes in white-tailed sea eagles Haliaeetus albicilla breeding in Poland

Forty-four congeners of higher chlorinated naphthalenes were identified and quantified in the breast muscles, liver and adipose fat of a few specimens of white-tailed sea eagle collected from the Baltic coastal and inland breeding areas in Poland in 1991-92. Many of the identified chloronaphthalenes (CNs) were well resolved as single peaks on the Rtx-5 HRGC-MS/EI-SIR chromatograms, but still some of them coeluted in pairs (four- tetra-, two penta- and six hexa-CNs) or triplicate (six tetra-CNs) on the chromatograms. All tetra-, penta-, hexa- and hepta-CNs present in Halowax 1014, a technical mixture of CNs, were found in the tissues of white-tailed sea eagles indicating a high persistency of these ubiquitous environmental contaminants. The profile and pattern of chloronaphthalenes found in sea eagles differed largely from that of Halowax 1014, suggesting a selective and structure-related metabolism of many many CN congeners. Among the most persistent and highly bioaccumulating CNs in tissues of the sea eagles were congeners such as 1,3,5,7-T4CN (CN no. 42), 1,2,4,6-/1,2,4,7-/1,2,5,7-T4CN (CN nos. 33/34/37) and 1,4,6,7-T4CN (CN no. 47), 1,2,3,5,7-/1,2,4,6,7- P5CN (CN nos. 52/60) and 1,2,4,6,8-P5CN (CN no. 61), and 1,2,3,4,6,7-/1,2,3,5,6,7-H6CN. Differences in the metabolic potency of some of the most persistent tetra- and penta-CNs were observed between juvenile and adult white-tailed sea eagles. The CN congener no. 54 (1,2,3,6,7-P5CN) also is present in tissues of white-tailed sea eagles. It is formed during combustion processes and has not been found in the technical mixtures of PCNs of the Halowax series. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd