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blubber, the polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) is often regarded as a marine mammal because it
lives on sea ice for most of the year (Rigét et al. 2010) and is included in the list when pesti-
cide determinations in fat are done. Reported levels varied greatly, being highest in killer
whales ( Orcinus orca ) from the United States and Japan (Kajiwara et al. 2006; Krahn et al.
2007; Haraguchi et al. 2009) and lowest in most pinnipeds, which are thought to possess an
exceptional capacity to eliminate HCB by biotransformation (Goerke et al. 2004).
Temporal trends in marine mammals have been published. Hobbs et al. (2001) found
that the levels of HCB in blubber of in whales ( Balaenoptera physalus ) of the coast of Eastern
Canada fell from 218-288 ng/g LW to 96.3 between 1971-1972 and 1991, and a significant
decline in franciscana dolphins ( Pontoporia blainvillei ) in Southern Brazil over a 10-year
period, 1994-2004 (Leonel et al. 2010) and a decline in common bottlenose dolphins by a
factor of 4.9 in Western Mediterranean between 1987 and 2002 (Borrell and Aguilar 2007)
were noted. Vorkamp et al. (2008) reported a significant decrease in HCB levels between
1994 and 2006 in the blubber of ringed seals ( Pusa hispida , formerly Phoca hispida ) from
West Greenland. However, there are several studies that show the levels of HCB remain-
ing unchanged in marine mammals. In Northern fur seals ( Callorhinus ursinus ) collected
in Japan, HCB levels were found to be rather constant since the early 1970s (Kajiwara et al.
2004), and in gray seals ( Halichoerus grypus ) collected near Sable Island, Canada, the levels
did not change between 1984 and 1994 (Addison and Stobo 2001). Similarly, Muir et al.
(2000) found no significant trend in HCB concentration in the Atlantic walrus ( Odobenus
rosmarus ) between 1978 and 1988.
HCB levels and trends have also been reported in other mammalian species. For exam-
ple, in Sweden, concentrations have fallen by a rate of 7.5% per year in bovine adipose tis-
sue sampled between 1991 and 2004, from medians of 3.4-3.9 to 1.3-2.7 ng/g LW (Glynn
et al. 2009). In butter samples from many countries and regions of the world, concentra-
tions of HCB showed a much narrower range (i.e., a more even distribution) than that
observed for other OC pesticides, with concentrations varying “only” between 0.34 and
6.2 ng/g LW (Kalantzi et al. 2001).
14.3.2  Pentachlorophenol
Pentachlorophenol (PCP) and its derivatives such as sodium pentachlorophenate (NaPCP)
have been widely used until recently for agricultural, industrial, and public health pur-
poses, as wood preservatives, termite deterrents, bactericides, weed killers, and/or mol-
luscicides. Following extensive application of NaPCP as a molluscicide in rice fields in
Surinam, Vermeer et al. (1974) detected residues of PCP in the liver samples from cattle
egrets ( Bubulcus ibis ), common egrets ( Ardea alba ), and snowy egrets ( Egretta thula ) resid-
ing in the vicinity of PCP-treated rice fields, at levels of 0.07-0.19 μg/g WW. Egrets, her-
ons, and jacanas were found sick or dead during the period of pesticide application, and
this also includes 50 snail kites ( Rostrhamus sociabilis ), birds of prey in which high PCP
residues were found in the brain (artithmetic mean ± SE, 11.25 ± 1.11 μg/g WW) and liver
(45.56 ± 2.18 μg/g WW) of 17 corpses analyzed, suggesting a probable death after contami-
nated snail ingestion.
More recently, PCP was detected at average levels of 51 (range 5-343) ng/g LW in the
whole blood of polar bears collected in 1999-2001 in central East Greenland (Sandala et al.
2004). In the blubber of male and female ringed seals from East Greenland, Letcher et al.
(2009) reported concentrations of 1.0 ± 0.4 ng/g LW and hypothesized a possible origin in
polar bear samples of PCP through the diet (they consume large quantities of blubber of
seals) or also by metabolization of HCB.
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