Organochlorines and Polychlorinated Biphenyl Levels in Pinniped Milk from the Arctic, the Antarctic, California and Australia

Investigations on organochlorine concentrations in organs and tissues of Antarctic seals began in the 1980s.
This dataset analyses concentrations of organochlorines and polychlorinated biphenyls in pinniped milk samples from the Arctic, Antarctic, California and Australia. Concentrations of p,p'-DDE and PCBs in the milk of Antarctic fur seals were about two orders of magnitude lower than those in pinniped milk samples from California. Although PCB levels were dramatically different in different geographical regions, Bacon et al. (1992) found a similar ratio pattern for PCB congeners 153, 138 and 180 in pinnipeds throughout the world. They concluded that it is not the levels which shape the profiles, but rather how the pollutants react in metabolic systems. As in the milk of Antarctic fur seals, average DDT, PCB, HCB and HCH concentrations in samples of Weddell seal blubber from various Antarctic locations are from one to three orders of magnitude lower than average values in the blubber of Arctic seals Toxaphene and chlordane components in chromatograms of Weddell seal samples were found to exceed the intensity of PCB signals, and the γHCB/αHCH ratio was >1 while in Arctic samples it was always <1.