共查询到20条相似文献，搜索用时 602 毫秒
1.
Newark Bay (NB) killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) have been chronically exposed to environmental contaminants that activate the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) and are tolerant to toxic effects and CYP1A induction provoked by AHR ligands. Resistance to CYP1A induction could be due to an epigenetic mechanism such as DNA methylation. We measured in-ovo CYP1A catalytic activity (ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase, EROD) in NB and reference site killifish embryos aqueously exposed to various concentrations of the de-methylating agent 5-azacytidine, 5-AC (5, 50 and 500 micro(micro)M) with or without 0.2 micro(micro)g/l of the CYP1A inducer 3,3',4,4',5 pentachlorobiphenyl (IUPAC PCB126). Neither PCB126 alone, nor PCB126 plus 5-AC, induced EROD above levels in vehicle treated Newark Bay fish. In reference site fish, the same PCB126 dose provoked a 7.4-fold EROD induction relative to controls. We conclude that Newark Bay killifish are resistant to CYP1A induction by co-planar PCBs during early embryological development and our data suggests that DNA methylation does not play a critical role in resistance to CYP1A induction in this model. 相似文献
2.
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are an important group of environmental pollutants, there being a total of 209 theoretical congeners. Residue analysis of the adipose tissue of five species of fish-eating sea birds from British and Irish coastal waters revealed the presence of up to 60 different congeners. By GC-MS, GC-MSD and high resolution capillary GC-ECD using authentic standards, it was possible to identify and quantify 40 different congeners. Despite the large number of PCB congeners identified only 10 accounted for > 80% of the total PCBs. A PCB congener was identified accounting for 5% of the total PCBs (2,3′,4,4′,5′,6-hexachlorobiphenyl) [168] not usually reported in biological samples. Comparison of the molecular structure for the persistent PCB congeners revealed the lack of meta-para unsubstituted adjacent carbon atoms. It has been shown that meta-para unsubstituted adjacent carbon atoms facilitate the metabolism of PCBs and it is hypothesised that the formation of hydroxy derivatives may depend upon such a requirement. 相似文献
3.
Newark Bay (NB) killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) have been chronically exposed to environmental contaminants that activate the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) and are tolerant to toxic effects and CYP1A induction provoked by AHR ligands. Resistance to CYP1A induction could be due to an epigenetic mechanism such as DNA methylation. We measured in-ovo CYP1A catalytic activity (ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase, EROD) in NB and reference site killifish embryos aqueously exposed to various concentrations of the de-methylating agent 5-azacytidine, 5-AC (5, 50 and 500 μ(micro)M) with or without 0.2 μ(micro)g/l of the CYP1A inducer 3,3′,4,4′,5 pentachlorobiphenyl (IUPAC PCB126). Neither PCB126 alone, nor PCB126 plus 5-AC, induced EROD above levels in vehicle treated Newark Bay fish. In reference site fish, the same PCB126 dose provoked a 7.4-fold EROD induction relative to controls. We conclude that Newark Bay killifish are resistant to CYP1A induction by co-planar PCBs during early embryological development and our data suggests that DNA methylation does not play a critical role in resistance to CYP1A induction in this model. 相似文献
4.
The toxic effects of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and its related planar halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (PHAHs) are mediated by the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR). To investigate the potential sensitivity to PHAHs and the evolutional diversity of AHR in aquatic birds, AHR cDNAs were initially cloned and sequenced from the livers of a black-footed albatross (Diomedea nigripes) and a common cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo). In this study, we report the identification of two distinct AHR paralog genes in these species. The two full-length AHR cDNAs from albatross were highly divergent (33% overall amino acid identity, and 60% identity in the N-terminal half). Phylogenetic analysis showed that one of them belongs to the AHR1 clade and the other one to the AHR2 clade, which has been identified only from fishes, but not yet from mammals and birds. Albatross AHR1 encoded a 861-residue protein with a predicted molecular mass of 96.7 kDa, and in the case of albatross AHR2, 925 amino acids and 100.7 kDa. From cormorant liver, the full-length AHR1 cDNA and the partial AHR2 cDNA were cloned. This result strongly suggests that bird species also possess two distinct AHR genes (AHR1 and AHR2). To our knowledge, this is the first report on the presence of an AHR2-like isoform in bird species as well as in fish. 相似文献
5.
S Schoombie RJM Crawford AB Makhado BM Dyer PG Ryan 《African Journal of Marine Science》2016,38(1):119-127
Sub-Antarctic Marion Island is one of the few islands where both species of Phoebetria albatrosses breed sympatrically. The last published assessment of their population trends, which reported counts up to 2008, concluded that the numbers of breeding pairs of sooty albatross P. fusca (Endangered) were decreasing, whereas numbers of light-mantled albatross P. palpebrata (Near Threatened) were increasing. Extending the counts to 2014 reversed these trends, with numbers of sooty albatrosses increasing from 2006 to 2014, and numbers of light-mantled albatrosses decreasing from 2007 to 2014. Confidence in island-wide counts is low due to the cryptic nature of the albatrosses on their largely inaccessible cliff-side nest sites, as well as counts for sooty albatrosses taking place late in the incubation period when 10?20% of nests have already failed. Given the greater conservation concern for the sooty albatross, we recommend that dedicated annual counts be conducted during the early incubation period, and be repeated shortly after the chicks hatch (late December), mid-way through the nestling period (late February) and prior to fledging (late April), to give a better idea of breeding success. Count zones also should be revised to facilitate more accurate counts, ensuring more reliable estimates of sooty albatross population trends at Marion Island. 相似文献
6.
以珠江口海域的两头中华白海豚为研究对象，采用气相色谱法分析了海豚组织中多氯联苯（PCBs）的含量分布特征和毒性水平。结果表明，PCBs在海豚10种不同组织中的含量范围为25．1—85567．3ng／g，PCBs含量最高的组织为额隆和皮肤，其次为肝脏、肌肉、心脏、睾丸和脑，最低的为肺、胃和肾脏；PCBs同系物和同族物在海豚不同组织中的分布特征相似，同系物中以PCB101＋113和PCB153所占总量的百分比最大，在10．25％-51．70％之间；在同族物中以含在同族物中以5个氯原子和6个氯原子的PCBs为主，所占百分比均在23．53％-60．06％之间；运用二蛞哄毒性当量（TEQ）评价了中华白海豚不同组织中PCBs的毒性，其TEQs范围为55．9—68191．0pg／g，其中皮肤TEQs含量最高。TEQs主要来自非邻位取代的PCBs，占总量的74．15％-99．62％，其中来自PCB126的占34．11％-96．5I％。与世界其他海域海豚的PCBs污染水平相比，成年中华白海豚受PCBs污染严重，其体内的PCBs含量和毒性当量均已超出安全浓度范围，对其健康已造成威胁。 相似文献
7.
《African Journal of Marine Science》2013,35(1):529-535
Hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers provide opportunities for detailed and rapid mapping of features, including biological ones, further enhanced by the removal during 2000 of "selective availability". GPS was used to map, describe and compare nest densities within wandering albatross Diomedea exulans colonies at subantarctic Marion and Prince Edward islands. On Prince Edward Island, the coordinates of 1 061 wandering albatross nests were determined and, on Marion Island, 1 779 nests. For describing nest densities of wandering albatrosses, a 50-m grid is recommended, at which scale, the densest area of Prince Edward Island was in Albatross Valley, where the area of the colony was 46 ha and nest density was 22.3 nests ha?1. For Marion Island, the total area of the wandering albatross colonies was 306 ha and the nest density was 5.8 nests ha?1. In the three study colonies there (Macaroni Bay, 28 nests; Sealer's Beach, 117 nests; Goney Plain, 140 nests), the density statistics did not differ greatly from the overall densities on the island, with overall mean densities of 4.9, 5.7 and 8.0 birds ha?1 respectively. Although comparisons with nest densities at other breeding colonies are uncertain because of differing methods of computing them, the nest densities in Albatross Valley lie within the reported ranges for other colonies of great albatrosses. 相似文献
8.
We studied the accumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 1,1,1.trichloro-2,2-bis[p-chlorophenyl]ethane (DDT) and its metabolites, and vitamins A and E in the top levels of the Baltic Sea food web. The investigation focused on the transfer of contaminants and vitamins to the ringed seal (Phoca hispida baltica) and the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) from their main prey species. The trophic level of the seals was investigated using stable isotopes of nitrogen and the results indicated that both species of Baltic seal feed at approximately the same level. PCBs accumulated to a greater extent in the grey seal than in the ringed seal. Biomagnification factors for DDT compounds were similar for both species of Baltic seal (85-140). Differences in observed DDT levels were due to different prey selection by the two species, while differences in PCB levels indicated a species-specific metabolic system. There was a clearly greater accumulation of DDT compounds than of PCBs in both species of seal. The supply of dietary vitamin A was normally above the recommended level in all the seal populations studied. Low levels of hepatic vitamin A in the Baltic seals could therefore indicate the toxic effects of a high level of persistent organic pollutants on vitamin A dynamics, at least in the ringed seal. In the grey seals, low hepatic vitamin A levels could also be explained by lower levels of dietary vitamin A, compared to the reference grey seals, as it is not known if seals can store unlimited amounts of vitamin A. The greater uptake of vitamin E by Baltic seals, compared to seals in the reference areas, demonstrated by elevated levels of vitamin E in the blubber, could be a response to oxidative stress caused by the high contaminant load. These results further support our previous hypothesis that the toxic effects of environmental contaminants could be causing the observed divergence in vitamin levels between the Baltic seals and the reference seal populations. 相似文献
9.
Incidental mortality in fisheries is the main at-sea threat albatrosses are facing nowadays. In this study we used remote sensing techniques to model the degree of spatial overlapping between the Black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) and Argentine fisheries, assuming this as a proxy of risk for albatrosses. Eleven tags were deployed on albatrosses during the non-breeding seasons 2011 and 2012 in the Patagonian Shelf. Their distribution overlapped to different extents with the two coastal trawl, three offshore trawl and one demersal longline fisheries. The overlap index showed highest values with both coastal fleets, followed by the ice-chilling trawl fleet. These intersections were located in the Argentinean–Uruguayan Common Fishing Zone, in coastal areas of the SE of Buenos Aires province, El Rincón estuary and over the shelf break. The analysis of intersections of focal areas from albatrosses and all fisheries allowed the identification of thirty-four fishing management units (1° by 1° grid within the Argentine EEZ) classified as of medium, high or very high conservation priority. Very high priority units were placed between 35 and 38°S in the external mouth of Rio de la Plata, and between 45 and 47°S in neighboring waters East to the hake fishing closure. Although there were possible biases due to the limited number of tracked birds and the locations where albatrosses were captured and instrumented, the information presented in this study provides a comprehensive picture of important areas of overlapping during winter that could be used by the fishery administration to prioritize conservation actions under limited resource scenarios. 相似文献
10.
R.J. Norstrom D.C.G. Muir C.A. Ford M. Simon C.R. Macdonald P. Bland 《Marine environmental research》1992,34(1-4)
Selective accumulation of PCDDs, PCDFs and PCB congeners was investigated in beluga (Delphinapterus leucas), narwhal (Monodon monoceros) and several species at the same trophic level in two areas of Canada. There was a much higher relative abundance of meta-para-unsubstituted PCBs in the cetaceans compared with other species. This suggests that activity of cytochrome P450 monooxygenase enzymes causing CYP2B-type metabolism was relatively low in beluga and narwhal. Lower relative levels of 2,3,7,8-TCDD occurred in beluga from both areas, and selective reduction of toxic non-ortho PCBs occurred in the highly PCB-contaminated St Lawrence beluga. These compounds are potent inducers of cytochrome P450 CYP 1A-type enzymes, suggesting that such an enzyme with the capability of metabolizing TCDD-like substrates is present in beluga and narwhal. SIMCA principal components analysis of PCB congener patterns showed that the two cetaceans were in a statistically significant different class than the other species. Variables (congeners) with the greatest separation power between classes were mainly those defined by the selective metabolism rules. 相似文献
11.
Polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs) were measured in atmospheric samples collected from the North Pacific to the Arctic Ocean between July and September 2012 to study the atmospheric concentration characteristics of PCBs and their gas/particle partitioning. The mean concentration of 26 ∑PCBs(vapor plus particulate phase)(∑PCBs) was 19.116 pg/m3 with a standard deviation of 13.833 pg/m3. Three most abundant congeners were CB-28,-52 and-77, accounting for 43.0% to ∑PCBs. The predominance of vapor PCBs(79.0% to ∑PCBs) in the atmosphere was observed. PCBs were negative correlated with the latitudes and inverse of the absolute temperature(1/T). The significant correlation for most congeners was also observed between the logarithm of gas/particle partition coefficient(log KP) and 1/T. Shallower slopes(from-0.15 to-0.46, average-0.27) were measured from the regression of the logarithm of sub-cooled liquid vapor pressures(logpo L) and log KP for all samples. The difference of the slopes and intercepts among samples was insignificant(p0.1), implying adsorption and/or absorption processes and the aerosol composition did not differ significantly among different samples. By comparing three models, the J-P adsorption model, the octanol/air partition coefficient(KOA) based model and the soot-air model, the gas/particle partitioning of PCBs in the Arctic atmosphere was simulated more precisely by the soot-air model, and the adsorption onto elemental carbon is more sensitive than the absorption into organic matters of aerosols, especially for lowchlorinated PCB congeners. 相似文献
12.
《African Journal of Marine Science》2013,35(1):519-523
Exchange of 61 wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans has been recorded between the French Crozet Islands and the South African Prince Edward Islands, 1 068 km apart in the Southern Ocean. Most movements of banded birds (57) have been westwards, from the Crozets to the Prince Edwards. In all, 18 fledglings banded at Possession Island, Crozets, have bred at Marion Island, Prince Edwards, but only one fledgling from Marion Island has been recorded breeding on Possession. The wandering albatrosses of the two island groups form a metapopulation that ideally should be conserved as a single unit. It is suggested that France and South Africa collaborate through the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels to effect an improved conservation status for the wandering albatrosses of the two island groups. 相似文献
13.
Reproductively active oysters were fed daily with 0.2 g algal paste containing 0, 0.1, and 1.0 microgram polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (1:1:1 mixture of Aroclor 1242, 1254 and 1260) for either 15 or 30 days, and accumulation of PCBs in different organ tissues and eggs assessed. The effects of PCB exposure on lipid content, lipid class and fatty acid composition were also evaluated. PCBs were accumulated by the oysters and transferred to the eggs. PCB accumulation in oysters was dose, time and tissue dependent. Mean PCB contents were 3150, 1970, and 250 ng/g dry wt., respectively, in the visceral mass, gills + mantle and muscle of oysters fed algal paste containing 1.0 microgram PCBs for 30 days. The PCBs in the eggs from the same oysters reached 671 ng PCBs/g dry wt. Feeding oysters with PCB-sorbed algal paste for 30 days significantly increased phospholipid and free fatty acid contents in gills + mantle tissue compared to the same tissues in the undosed control. 相似文献
14.
Impact of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on the immune function of fish: age as a variable in determining adverse outcome 总被引：3，自引：0，他引：3
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a major contaminant of global extent in water resources and aquatic biota. Due to its high lipid solubility, PCBs fail to be degraded and, therefore, continue to bioaccumulate throughout the environment and food chain. To determine the impact of PCBs on the immune system of aged and juvenile Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes), fish were injected with the coplanar PCB congener 126 and examined after 3 and 14 days. PCB 126 produced oxidative stress in both age groups of fish 14 days post-injection; however, juvenile medaka appeared more susceptible than aged fish. Humoral immunity, as determined by antibody forming cell (AFC) numbers, was significantly depressed for up to 14 days post-injection in both age groups. These results demonstrate the sensitivity of the fish immune response for predicting PCB-induced immunotoxicity and identify age as a variable in determining adverse outcome. 相似文献
15.
PCB uptake and accumulation by oysters (Crassostrea virginica) exposed via a contaminated algal diet
F. -L. E. Chu P. Soudant L. A. Cruz-Rodríguez R. C. Hale 《Marine environmental research》2000,50(1-5)
Reproductively active oysters were fed daily with 0.2 g algal paste containing 0, 0.1, and 1.0 μg polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (1:1:1 mixture of Aroclor 1242, 1254 and 1260) for either 15 or 30 days, and accumulation of PCBs in different organ tissues and eggs assessed. The effects of PCB exposure on lipid content, lipid class and fatty acid composition were also evaluated. PCBs were accumulated by the oysters and transferred to the eggs. PCB accumulation in oysters was dose, time and tissue dependent. Mean PCB contents were 3150, 1970, and 250 ng/g dry wt., respectively, in the visceral mass, gills+mantle and muscle of oysters fed algal paste containing 1.0 μg PCBs for 30 days. The PCBs in the eggs from the same oysters reached 671 ng PCBs/g dry wt. Feeding oysters with PCB-sorbed algal paste for 30 days significantly increased phospholipid and free fatty acid contents in gills+mantle tissues compared to the same tissues in the undosed control. 相似文献
16.
Maricar Prudente Shinsuke Tanabe Mafumi Watanbe Annamalai Subramnian Nobuyuki Miyazki Pauline Suarez Ryo Tatsukawa 《Marine environmental research》1997,44(4):415-427
Concentrations of persistent organochlorines were determined in the blubber and melon of 11 species of adult male odontocetis collected from the North Pacific, Indian Ocean and nearby seas. Mean concentrations of DDs (33 μg/g wet wt) were the highest followed by PCBs (32 μg/g wet wt), chlordane compounds (CHLs: 3.7 μg/g wet wt), HCHs (1.1 μg/g wet wt), and HCB (0.32 μg/g wet wt). Odontoceti species inhabiting temperate waters revealed maximum residual concentrations of these contaminants, and the elevated DDT and PCB residues detected seem to suggest that some of the present species might potentially be at high risk. Relatively high DDT concentrations were found in tropical water species, which could be attributed to the current usage of DDT in the tropics and the less movable nature of this compound via long-range atmospheric transport. The HCH levels in animals inhabiting cold and temperate waters were higher than those inhabiting tropical waters, a result that was perhaps reflective of atmospheric transport from the tropical source to the northern sinks. A similar pattern was also observed in PCBs, CHLs and HCB, probably indicating the ongoing discharge of these compounds from mid-latitudes as well as those originating in tropical regions. 相似文献
17.
Settling particles play an important role in transporting organic carbon from the surface to the deep ocean. It is known that major components of settling particles are biogenic silicates (opal), biogenic carbonate (CaCO3), lithogenic clays and organic matter. Since each component aggregates and/or takes in organic carbon, all of these components have the ability to transport particulate organic carbon (POC) to the interior of the ocean. In this study, sediment trap experiments were carried out in four areas of the western North Pacific (including a marginal sea). Factors are proposed that correlate the composition of settling particles with POC flux. Annual mean organic carbon fluxes at 1 km depth in the western North Pacific Basin, Japan Sea, Hidaka Basin and northern Japan Trench were found to be 14.9, 18.1, 13.0 and 6.6 mg/m2/day, respectively. Organic carbon flux in the western North Pacific was greater than that in the Eastern North Pacific (7.4), the Equatorial Pacific (4.2), the Southern Ocean (5.8) and the Eastern North Atlantic (1.8). In the western North Pacific, it was calculated that 52% of POC was carried by opal particles. Opal is known to be a major component even in the Eastern North Pacific and the Southern Ocean, and the opal fluxes in these areas are similar to those in the western North Pacific. However, the organic carbon flux that was carried by opal particles (OCopalflux) in the western North Pacific was greater than that in the Eastern North Pacific and the Southern Ocean. These results indicate that the ability of opal particles to transport POC to the deep ocean in the western North Pacific is greater than that in the other areas. 相似文献
18.
《African Journal of Marine Science》2013,35(3):409-417
The second mid-summer survey of surface-nesting seabirds at the Prince Edward Island group (Marion and Prince Edward islands) was conducted during December 2008, seven years after the initial mid-summer survey. Wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans may have decreased slightly at Prince Edward Island, mirroring a decrease of roughly 2% per year at Marion Island from 1998 to 2005, a decline that has since reversed. Numbers of grey-headed albatrosses Thalassarche chrysostoma on Marion Island have remained stable, whereas the population on Prince Edward Island decreased by 20% from 2001 to 2008 (3% per year). The estimate of Indian yellow-nosed albatrosses T. carteri at Prince Edward Island was similar in 2001 and 2008. Counts of both sooty albatrosses Phoebetria spp. were substantially higher at Prince Edward Island in 2008, possibly as a result of better coverage compared to 2001. Dark-mantled sooty albatrosses P. fusca on Marion Island have decreased by almost 2% per year since 1996, continuing a negative trend from the early 1980s, whereas light-mantled sooty albatrosses P. palpebrata have increased by almost 6% per year at Marion Island since 1996. Counts of both giant petrels increased at Prince Edward Island (northern Macronectes halli by 44%; southern M. giganteus by 28%), whereas their numbers have remained stable at Marion Island. Current best estimates for annual breeding populations (pairs) at the two islands are 3 650 wandering albatrosses, 9 500 grey-headed albatrosses, 7 000 Indian yellow-nosed albatrosses, 2 900 dark-mantled sooty albatrosses, 800 light-mantled sooty albatrosses, 750 northern giant petrels and 2 800 southern giant petrels, confirming the global importance of the Prince Edward Islands for these seven species. Apart from the dark-mantled sooty albatross, their populations are reasonably healthy despite fishing mortality. 相似文献
19.
To distinguish between adsorbed and absorbed PCBs in seawater microorganisms, 2,2′,4,4′,5,5′-hexachlorobiphenyl (IUPAC #153; HCB) was added to a pure culture of Chrysochromulina apheles Moestrup et H.A. Thomsen. After the addition of the HCB, the cells were immediately harvested onto 2 μm polycarbonate filters and rinsed with a gradient of ethanol concentrations. Rinsing with 40% ethanol (v/v) was found to remove 80% of the HCB, which was loosely adsorbed to the cell surfaces, but did not extract the interior of the cells, as tested by chlorophyll a analysis. This method was used in a time course experiment which estimated PCBs adsorption and absorption to different groups of plankton organisms. Three different 14C-PCBs, 4-chlorobiphenyl (IUPAC #3; MCB), 2,2′,5,5′-tetrachlorobiphenyl (IUPAC #52; TCB), and 2,2′,4,4′,5,5′-hexachlorobiphenyl (IUPAC #153, HCB), were incubated in seawater from the northern Baltic Sea during a spring bloom. Samples were taken every third day and separated by filtration into three fractions; 0.2–2 μm (bacteria), 2–10 μm (flagellates), and >10 μm (microplankton; phytoplankton and protozoa). Two subsamples were retained from each size fraction. One of the subsamples was left untreated, to obtain adsorbed plus absorbed PCB, while the other subsample was rinsed with 40% of ethanol, to obtain the absorbed PCB. The sorption was found to vary depending on the hydrophobicity of the compounds, the structure of the cell membranes, and the lipid content and composition of the cells. The absorption increased for the TCB and the HCB in the largest size fraction over time, which coincided with an increase of the neutral and non-polar lipids. 相似文献
20.
Geographical and temporal variation in levels of organochlorine contaminants in marine mammals 总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1
The interpretation of the spatial and temporal patterns of variation in organochlorine concentrations in marine mammal populations is complex because of the lack of wide-scale, long-term surveys. Therefore the results from several surveys must be combined and this causes undesired heterogeneity due to differences in the sampling and analytical techniques used and in the biological characteristics of the individuals sampled. Moreover, information is not homogeneously distributed in either space or in time. Most research is concentrated in western Europe, northern America and certain areas of Asia, while it is extremely limited or non-existent in Africa and most regions of the southern hemisphere. Marine mammals from the temperate fringe of the northern hemisphere, particularly fish-eating species which inhabit the mid-latitudes of Europe and North America, show the greatest organochlorine loads; noteworthy are the extremely high levels found in the Mediterranean Sea and certain locations on the western coasts of the United States. Concentrations in the tropical and equatorial fringe of the northern hemisphere and throughout the southern hemisphere are low or extremely low. The polar regions of both hemispheres showed the lowest concentrations of DDTs and PCBs, although levels of HCHs, chlordanes and HCB were moderate to high in the cold waters of the North Pacific. During recent decades, concentrations have tended to decrease in the regions where pollution was initially high but they have increased in regions located far from the pollution source as a consequence of atmospheric transport and redistribution. It is expected that the Arctic and, to a lesser extent, the Antarctic, will become major sinks for organochlorines in the future; this process may already be significant for some compounds such as HCB and HCHs. Effort should be devoted to both assessment of organochlorine trends in the now highly polluted populations of the temperate fringe of the northern hemisphere and to the implementation of long-term monitoring of marine mammal populations inhabiting polar regions. 相似文献