Organochlorine chemical and heavy metal contaminants in white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) and pilot whales (Globicephala melaena) from the coast of Newfoundland, Canada

Polychlorinated biphenyls ( Sigma PCB), DDT isomers, chlordanes, toxaphene, chlorobenzenes and hexachlorocyclohexane isomers and seven elements (As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, Se, Zn) were determined in tissues of 41 stranded pilot whales (Globicephala melaena ) and 27 ice-entrapped white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris ) from Newfoundland, Canada. Cadmium, Hg, As and Se were higher in pilot whale kidney and liver than in dolphin tissues. Mercury in liver and blubber, and Cd in kidney, of pilot whales were positively correlated with age. Cadmium levels in both species were higher than reported for other cetaceans from Canadian east coast waters. Lead concentrations in dolphin kidney and mucles were 5 times higher than in pilot whales. Levels of Sigma PCB in blubber samples ranged from 31 to 61 mg/kg in female and male dolphins, respectively, and from 5.6 to 12 mg/kg in female and male pilot whales.