Persistent chlorinated organic contaminants in harbour porpoises from the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and Arctic waters

Individual chlorinated biphenyls (CBs) and chlorinated pesticides ( p, p′-DDT and metabolites, HCHs and HCB) were determined in blubber samples of 40 harbour porpoises ( Phocoena phocoena) of different age and sex from the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and Greenland coastal waters. Polychlorinated dibenzo- p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) were analysed in a selected group of animals. ΣCB concentrations (medians) in North Sea immature specimens were similar (14.9 μg/g lipid) to those from the Baltic Sea (17.0 μg/g lipid) and exceeding those in Greenland specimens by an order of magnitude (1.3 μg/g lipid). The median concentrations (μg/g lipid) of HCB, p, p′-DDE, p, p′-DDD and γ-HCH were in the order Greenland