PMID- 14768880
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20040513
LR  - 20190917
IS  - 0730-7268 (Print)
IS  - 0730-7268 (Linking)
VI  - 23
IP  - 1
DP  - 2004 Jan
TI  - Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in British Columbia, Canada, and Washington State, 
      USA, reveal a combination of local and global polychlorinated biphenyl, dioxin, 
      and furan signals.
PG  - 157-65
AB  - The harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) can serve as a useful indicator of food web 
      contamination by persistent organic pollutants (POPs) because of its high trophic 
      level, wide distribution in temperate coastal waters of the Northern Hemisphere, 
      and relative ease of capture. In 1996 through 1997, we live-captured 60 harbor 
      seal pups from three regions, spanning remote (Queen Charlotte Strait, BC, 
      Canada), moderately industrialized (Strait of Georgia, BC, Canada), and heavily 
      industrialized (Puget Sound, WA, USA) marine basins straddling the Canada-United 
      States border. Biopsy samples of blubber were taken and analyzed for 
      congener-specific polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated 
      dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) by using 
      high-resolution gas chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry. Harbor 
      seals in Puget Sound were heavily contaminated with PCBs, whereas seals from the 
      Strait of Georgia had relatively high concentrations of PCDDs and PCDFs. Pattern 
      evaluation and principal components analysis suggested that proximity to sources 
      influenced the mixture to which seals were exposed, with those inhabiting more 
      remote areas being exposed to lighter PCB congeners (those with lower Henry's law 
      constant and K(ow)) that disperse more readily through atmospheric and other 
      processes. Total toxic equivalents to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin for the 
      PCBs, PCDDs, and PCDFs suggest that Puget Sound seals are at greatest risk for 
      adverse health effects, and that PCBs represent the class of dioxinlike 
      contaminants of greatest concern at all sites.
FAU - Ross, Peter S
AU  - Ross PS
AD  - Institute of Ocean Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 9860 West Saanich Road, 
      P.O. Box 6000, Sidney, British Columbia V8L 4B2, Canada. rosspe@pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
FAU - Jeffries, Steven J
AU  - Jeffries SJ
FAU - Yunker, Mark B
AU  - Yunker MB
FAU - Addison, Richard F
AU  - Addison RF
FAU - Ikonomou, Michael G
AU  - Ikonomou MG
FAU - Calambokidis, John C
AU  - Calambokidis JC
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - United States
TA  - Environ Toxicol Chem
JT  - Environmental toxicology and chemistry
JID - 8308958
RN  - 0 (Dioxins)
RN  - 0 (Furans)
RN  - DFC2HB4I0K (Polychlorinated Biphenyls)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adipose Tissue/chemistry
MH  - Animals
MH  - Animals, Newborn
MH  - British Columbia
MH  - Dioxins/analysis/*pharmacokinetics
MH  - Environmental Monitoring/*methods
MH  - *Food Chain
MH  - Furans/analysis/*pharmacokinetics
MH  - Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
MH  - Polychlorinated Biphenyls/analysis/*pharmacokinetics
MH  - Reference Values
MH  - Risk Assessment
MH  - Seals, Earless/*physiology
MH  - Skin/chemistry
MH  - Tissue Distribution
MH  - Washington
EDAT- 2004/02/11 05:00
MHDA- 2004/05/14 05:00
CRDT- 2004/02/11 05:00
PHST- 2004/02/11 05:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2004/05/14 05:00 [medline]
PHST- 2004/02/11 05:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1897/03-85 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Environ Toxicol Chem. 2004 Jan;23(1):157-65. doi: 10.1897/03-85.