PBDEs in the blubber of marine mammals from coastal areas of São Paulo, Brazil, southwestern Atlantic

Limited information is available in the literature on the levels of brominated flame retardants in the southern hemisphere. This study presents concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the blubber of small cetaceans from the coast of São Paulo (Brazil), southwestern Atlantic. PBDE levels were highest in Stenellafrontalis (770 ng g⁻¹ lipid) followed by Stenobredanensis (475 ng g⁻¹ lipid), Sotaliaguianensis (65.6 ng g⁻¹ lipid), Tursiopstruncatus (64.2 ng g⁻¹ lipid) and Pontoporiablainvillei (60.3 ng g⁻¹ lipid). In general, continental shelf individuals exhibited higher contamination than inshore animals. This might be related to larger prey items consumed by continental shelf dolphins. The pattern of contamination indicates that Penta-BDE commercial mixtures are a major source of PBDEs to top predators in the southwestern Atlantic. Congeners found in Octa-BDE formulations were not detected in the investigated animals.     

Threshold response of benthic macrofauna integrity to metal contamination in West Greenland

Sediment metal chemistry and benthic infauna surveys have been conducted over 33 years following a BACI protocol in relation to submarine tailings deposition (STD) from a lead-zinc mine in a western Greenland fjord system. We found clear predictable changes of benthic fauna composition in response to STD both temporally and spatially. Faunal re-colonization 15 years after mine closure, was slow and the impacted areas were still dominated by opportunistic species, although the most opportunistic ones (e.g. Capitella species) had decreased in importance. Concentration-response relations between sediment lead and faunal indices of benthic community integrity (e.g. the AMBI and DKI indices) indicated a threshold of ca. 200mg/kg, above which deterioration of faunal communities occurred. Above this threshold, diversity decreased dramatically and dominance of sensitive and indifferent species was substituted by tolerant or opportunistic species. Disposal of metal contaminated tailings may have long lasting effects on the biological system.