POLYCHLORINATED DIBENZO-P-DIOXIN AND POLYCHLORINATED DIBENZOFURAN LEVELS AND PATTERNS IN FISH AND FISH-EATING WILDLIFE IN THE BALTIC SEA

PCDD/F patterns in different fish species collected at the same site are different from each other indicating species differences in bioaccumulation. There are higher levels of specific congeners in older/larger herring caught at the same site. There are geographical differences in PCDD/F levels and patterns in herring, pike and burbot which may be linked to specific point sources of PCDD/F. PCDD/F levels are much higher in fish-eating birds than in their major fish prey indicating biomagnification. PCDD/F levels in seals, however, do not indicate biomagnification. Levels of PCDD/F in homogenates of guillemot eggs collected at five-year intervals (1974, 1979, 1984, 1989) indicate a possible reduction in environmental PCDD/F levels during the 1980s.