Abstract
Organochlorine contaminants (OCs), such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloromethane and its metabolites (DDTs), hexachlorocyclohex-ane isomers (HCHs), chlordane compounds (CHLs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and butyltin compounds (BTs) were determined in three species of Alcidae (tufted puffin, hornbilled puffin and sooty guillemot) collected from coastal waters of Hokkaido, Japan. Mean concentrations of PCBs were the highest followed by DDTs, CHLs, HCB and HCHs, respectively. BTs levels in tufted puffin were comparable to concentrations of CHLs, HCHs and HCB, while concentrations of BTs in two other species were similar to those of DDTs. The residue levels of OCs, BTs and the estimated TEQ of coplanar PCBs in Alcidae from Hokkaido were one or two orders of magnitude lower than those in other fish-eating birds from other areas of Japan and North Pacific. As the estimated egg-TEQ of coplanar PCBs in Alcidae from Hokkaido were apparently lower than LOAEL (10pg/g TEQ) in chicken embryo, suggesting that reproduction of Alcidae from Hokkaido may not be affected by the current PCBs contamination.
