The distribution of methyltin species in different seas

Total alkyltin concentrations were determined on unfiltered waters of the Marmara and Black seas by hydride derivatization and atomic spectrophotometry. Total mercury, fluorescing material, dissolved oxygen, temperature, salinity, TOC, inorganic nutrients and chlorophyll-a were also measured. The results were compared with previous studies in the Mediterranean. Tin was present principally as methyl species with trimethyltin (TMT) predominantly in the Marmara and Black seas, concentrations being in the range 0.25-413 ng per litre as chloride. In the Mediterranean, TMT predominated only at the mouth of the Goksu river and in the Rhodes Gyre. Monomethyl and dimethyltin species were most common in the tin-polluted Iskenderun bay and most Mediterranean estuaries. The occurrence and fate of methyltins in seawater were influenced both by the tin input and by abiotic and biotic processes.