Identification of 19 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas) from the Atlantic

Nineteen tetra- to hexabrominated diphenyl ethers were identified at ppb concentration in the blubber of pilot whale caught off the coast of the Faroe Islands in 1994 and 1996. Higher total concentrations were found in the pooled samples of young males (3,160 ng/g lipid) and females (3,038 ng/g lipid) compared to adult females (843 ng/g and 1,048 ng/g Lipid) and males (1,610 ng/g lipids). The predominant isomers in all samples were 2,2',4,4'-TeBDE (PBDE #47) and 2,2',4,4',5-PeBDE (PBDE #99) accounting for some 70% of the sum of the 19 isomers.