Levels of toxaphene congeners in white whales (Delphinapterus leucas) from Svalbard, Norway

Abstract

This study reports concentrations of three pesticide toxaphene congeners (CHBs; from the blubber of ten adult, male white whales (Delphinapterus leucas) from Svalbard, Norway. The CHB congeners that occurred at the highest levels in the blubber of the white whales were, as expected, CHB-26 (4636 F 1992 (SD) ng/g l.w.) and CHB-50 (6579 F 2214 ng/g l.w.); CHB-62 (232 F 231 ng/g l.w.) was also present, but at much lower concentrations. The mean level of the sum of the three CHBs (ACHBs = 11,447 F 4208 ng/g l.w.) in this study is more than twice the mean concentrations of the well-known organochlorine (OC) pollutants ADDTs (sum of ppV-DDT, ppV-DDE, ppV-DDD) and APCBs (sum of 27 PCB congeners) previously reported from the same individual white whales. The concentrations of CHBs in white whales from Svalbard are at the high end of the range for concentrations of these compounds compared to other Arctic white whale populations. Additionally, the contribution of CHBs to the overall OC burden is larger in white whales from Svalbard compared with their counterparts from other areas in the Arctic. Male white whales from Svalbard have several orders of magnitude higher concentrations of ACHBs compared to seals and polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from the same area. The high levels of CHBs in these whales, and their dominance in the OC pattern, suggests that white whales in Svalbard are exposed to high levels of this group of contaminants. Further studies are needed to investigate possible effects of CHBs and other OC contaminants on the white whale population in Svalbard. D 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Very high concentrations of DDE and toxaphene residues in crocodiles from the Ord River, Western Australia: an investigation into possible endocrine disruption

“…Recently the presence of parlars 26, 50 and 62 has also been reported in white whales from Svalbard, Norway. 36 Our results on crocodile tissues (Table 4) thus show a major difference from previous reports on environmental samples as we have identified parlar 63 as a major component of the total toxaphene burden of some samples. At the same time we were unable to identify parlar 62, which has previously been identified in trout, whale and seal tissues.…”

“…At the same time we were unable to identify parlar 62, which has previously been identified in trout, whale and seal tissues. [33][34][35][36] Because of this difference we were careful to confirm the identity of parlar 63. It had an identical retention time to standard material and the ratio of two different monitored masses (those used for identification and for quantification) was identical to that of the standard compound.…”

A review of the ecology and status of white whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in Svalbard, Norway

“…All odontocete whales have a poor capacity to metabolize POPs, which might play a role in the high concentrations of various POPs documented in Svalbard and elsewhere in white whales (Andersen et al 2001;Wolkers et al 2004;Andersen, Foreid et al 2006;Wolkers et al 2006;Villanger et al 2011;Hoguet et al 2013;Villanger et al 2020). For many compounds, white whales have higher concentrations than polar bears even if the whales feed at lower trophic levels.…”

“…For many compounds, white whales have higher concentrations than polar bears even if the whales feed at lower trophic levels. For instance, ∑DDT is five times higher in white whales in Svalbard compared to polar bears in the same area (Andersen et al 2001) and some toxaphenes congeners are more than 200 times higher (Andersen, Foreid et al 2006), though these two studies might be biased towards high levels because they were based on only adult males. In a study of accumulation of flame retardants (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) in the food chain in Svalbard, 13 different congeners were detected in white whales (of both sexes), while only one was detected in polar bears (Wolkers et al 2004).…”

“…Additionally, melting and retraction of glaciers is shrinking key feeding areas in front of tidewater glaciers, though white whales seem to be showing some plasticity and may already be feeding on Atlantic prey species given that they seem to be spending some time out in the fjords in recent years (Hamilton et al 2019). Intensified impacts of contaminants in a warming Arctic are also a concern given the already high levels of toxins in Svalbard white whales (see earlier; Andersen et al 2001;Wolkers et al 2004;Andersen, Foreid et al 2006;Wolkers et al 2006;Villanger et al 2011) and the evidence of impacts on other more southerly populations in the past (see Lebeuf et al 2014). Heightened disease risks are yet another threat as new species shift their distributions northward and introduced diseases may survive in a warmer Arctic marine environment, which was previously inhospitable (VanWormer et al 2019).…”