1 research outputs found
Inter-species differences for polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in marine top predators from the Southern North Sea: Part 2. Biomagnification in harbour seals and harbour porpoises
Harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) and harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) were found to differ in the
ability to metabolize polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs).
Biomagnification factors (BMFs), calculated between both predators and their prey (sole – Solea solea and
whiting – Merlangius merlangus), had a large range of variation (between 0.5 and 91 for PCBs and
between 0.6 and 53 for PBDEs). For the higher chlorinated PCBs and the highest brominated PBDEs, the
BMF values in adult males were significantly higher than in the juvenile individuals of both species. BMF
values of hexa- to octa-PCBs were the highest, suggesting reduced ability to degrade these congeners.
Harbour porpoises had higher BMFs for lower chlorinated PCBs and for all PBDEs compared to harbour
seals. Other factors, which may influence biomagnification, such as the octanol–water partition coefficients
and the trophic level position measured through stable isotope (d15N) analysis, were found to be of
lesser importance to predict biomagnification in the studied food chain