Organochlorines in Greenland ringed seals Phoca hispida/

Twenty-five ringed seals Phoca hispida. were sampled in 1994 at each of four areas in Greenland, three on the west coast and one on the east coast. Seal blubber samples were analysed for polychlorinated biphenyls PCBs, IUPAC Nos. 28, 31, 52, 101, 105, 118, 138, 153, 156 and 180., DDTs p,p9-DDE, p,p9-DDD, p,p9-DDT., hexachloro- cyclohexanes a-, b- and g-HCH., hexachlorobenzene HCB. and trans-nonachlor. A number of the seals ns56. were also analysed for toxaphene total toxaphene and single congeners: CHB Nos. 26, 32, 50 and 62.. The overall geometric means and ranges. found in seals were in mg kgy1 wet wt. for PCBs: 452 85]4200., DDTs: 607 97]6040., HCHs: 123 51]382., HCB: 13 3]27., trans-nonachlor: 83 21]1236. and total toxaphene: 263 71]950.. The geometric means for HCB, trans-nonachlor, toxaphenes and the sums of PCBs and DDTs were higher for the east coast samples than for those from the west coast, and a decreasing trend in concentrations followed the east Greenland current. No geographical trend was apparent for HCHs. Differences in concentrations between females and males were only significant for HCB and HCH within certain age classes and sampling areas. A tendency for concentrations to increase with age was observed, but was not statistically significant. Principal component analyses for PCB congeners revealed that the proportion of higher chlorinated PCBs Cl atoms G6. decreased with decreasing concentrations of PCBs found for the four sampling areas. No differences between the higher and lower chlorinated PCBs were seen in females and males, but a higher proportion of CB-105 and CB-118 compared to CB-52 and CB-101 was seen in male seals compared to female seals.