CHLORINATED AND BROMINATED PERSISTENT ORGANIC-COMPOUNDS IN BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES FROM THE ENVIRONMENT

Eleven selected biological samples representing different ecosystems, trophic levels, and areas mainly in Sweden have been analyzed for 31 halogenated organic compounds or compound groups. The multiresidue analytical method provides a good opportunity to compare the concentrations of the different compounds in the investigated samples. By the use of ratios of these concentrations, comparisons can be done between species and areas. An attempt to describe an environmental distribution profile is demonstrated for some of the compounds using the concentration ratio between these compounds and 2,2,4,4,5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (PCB 153). Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) were found in all samples (130-4,400 ng/g lipid weight [lw]) and in some of them at higher concentrations than the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The ratio of CP to PCB 153 is higher in the investigated terrestrial species than in the aquatic, which is not the case for the other compounds. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were also found in all but one sample (<3-2,140 ng/g lw). The concentrations were highest in industrialized areas but were also present in samples from background areas. Seven major congeners of PCBs were determined; the sum ranged from 50 to 200,000 ng/g lw in the investigated samples. Three coplanar PCB congeners were also analyzed (0.42-160 ng/g lw) as well as polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs), which were found at levels between 0.038 and 50 ng/g lw. The latter two groups do not seem to biomagnify in the food chain of herring to grey seal to the same extent as the major PCB compounds. Pentachlorobenzene was found in only three of the samples (0.6-35 ng/g lw), whereas hexachlorobenzene was present in all samples (9-330 ng/g lw). Among the organochlorine pesticides, total DDTs ranged from 4 to 280,000 ng/g lw and the hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) from < 19 to 650. Chlordane (<6-4,000 ng/g lw), toxaphene (not detected-5,700), and dieldrin (< 11-340) were also found. None of the analyzed polychlorinated phenols and guaiacols were detected in any of the investigated samples.