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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Animal Metabolism-Agricultural Chemicals Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #227896
Title: TISSUE DISTRIBUTION OF PCBS AND ORGANOCHLORINE PESTICIDES IN ALASKAN NORTHERN FUR SEALS: COMPARISON OF VARIOUS CONGENER CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES

Author
item LI, QING - UNIV OF HAWAII
item WANG, DONGLI - UNIV OF HAWAII
item Shelver, Weilin
item ATKINSON, SHANNON - ALASKA SEA LIFE CENTER
item MELLISH, JO-ANN - ALASKA SEA LIFE CENTER

Submitted to: Organohalogen Compounds
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/10/2008
Publication Date: 8/17/2008
Citation: Li, Q.X., Wang, D., Shelver, W.L., Atkinson, S., Mellish, J. 2008. Tissue Distribution of PCBs and Organochlorine Pesticides in Alaskan Northern Fur Seals: Comparison of Various Congener Classification Schemes. Organohalogen Compounds 70:1251-1254.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are believed to adversely affect reproduction and cause health problems in Pinnipeds 1-4. In this study, 145 PCB congeners and OCPs were analyzed in 10 juvenile male northern fur seals, Callorhinus ursinus, collected from Alaskan St. Paul Island. Tissue distribution of literature-proposed PCB congener grouping frameworks for human epidemiological studies was examined. The objectives are to understand the tissue distribution and potential risk associated with various chemical structures and toxicities of OCPs and particularly the PCBs. This study may not provide definitive explanations, since free ranging wild animals show large individual variation due to differences in exposure, habitat, and other confounding factors. Rather, the results might indicate avenues of research that could be fruitful to explore.