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Legacy and emergent POPs in the marine fauna of NE Greenland with special emphasis on the Greenland shark Somniosus microcephalus

  • Environmental Changes in Arctic
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Abstract

Persistent organic pollutants include several groups of chemicals with similar structures and physical–chemical properties that elicit comparable toxic effects. They have been used extensively worldwide in agriculture, industrial, and health applications. Their degradation is very slow in the polar regions due to the low temperatures and winter darkness. The aims of this study were to determine the concentrations of polychlorobyphenils (PCBs), polybromodiphenylethers (PBDEs), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in the Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) and other marine fishes and invertebrates from NE Greenland. The concentration increases were assessed by calculating the biomagnification factor (BMF) among pairs of alleged predator-prey organisms. PFOS were <LOD-1.28 ng/g wet wt and the PFOA ranged <LOD-14.46 ng/g wet wt. BDE47 made up most of the residue in the shark, while BDE-99 and -100 were major contributors to the ΣPBDEs in the other species of fish and invertebrates. Only PCBs 28, 52, 95, 101, 99, and 138 were found in the invertebrates and fish and their sum was higher in the Greenland shark muscle (18.26 ng/g wet wt) > Careproctus reinhardti (5.02 ng/g wet wt) > stomach content of Amblyraja hyperborea (1.4454 ng/g wet wt) > Boreogadus saida (0.355 ng/g wet wt). The higher contaminant biomagnification was found in the predator → prey pairs: shark → invertebrates (BMF_Σ6PCBs = 75-88672, BMF_Σ3PBDEs = 14-124), shark → A. hyperborea → preys, according to their diets. Ecotoxicological baseline data on marine wildlife in NE Greenland are particularly important due to the risk of prospect petroleum activities.

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Acknowledgments

The Italian National Programme of Research in Antarctica (PNRA) funded this research (Project 2009/A1.04). The samples were collected during the TUNU-IV expedition in 2010, in the framework of the international TUNU Programme. The authors are very grateful to the Colleagues and the Crew on board the R/V Jan Mayen (now Helmer Hanssen) for their kind collaboration. We are very grateful to Dr. Nicoletta Borghesi, Cristiana Guerranti and Dr. Victor Schulz-Estellano for the laboratory analyses of POP residue.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Siena, via P.A. Mattioli, 4, 53100, Siena, Italy

    Simonetta Corsolini & Karla Pozo

  2. RECETOX Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment, Masaryk University, Kamenice, 62500, Brno, Czech Republic

    Karla Pozo

  3. Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Católica Santísima Concepción, Alonso de Ribera 2850, 407 01 29, Concepción, Chile

    Karla Pozo

  4. Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT-The Arctic University of Norway, 9037, Tromsø, Norway

    Jørgen S. Christiansen

Authors
  1. Simonetta Corsolini
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  2. Karla Pozo
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  3. Jørgen S. Christiansen
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Correspondence to Simonetta Corsolini.

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This peer-reviewed article is a result of the multi- and interdisciplinary research activities between the Department of Physics, Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Siena and the TUNU Programme led by the UiT-The Arctic University of Norway.

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Corsolini, S., Pozo, K. & Christiansen, J.S. Legacy and emergent POPs in the marine fauna of NE Greenland with special emphasis on the Greenland shark Somniosus microcephalus . Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 27 (Suppl 1), 201–206 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-016-0541-7

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