A TWENTY YEAR (1987-2007) TREND OF PBDEs IN BELUGA FROM THE ST. LAWRENCE ESTUARY, CANADA

摘要

Beluga (white whale) from the St. Lawrence Estuary (SLE) was the first wildlife species in eastern Canada to be examined for polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Beluga carcasses showed rapidly increasing PBDEs blubber concentrations between 1988 and 1999, doubling at every 2.2 and 3.0 years in adult females and males, respectively. The current study aims to provide an update on the temporal trends of PBDEs in the SLE beluga. PBDEs were measured in blubber samples from 142 beluga carcasses found stranded on the shores of the SLE between 1987 and 2007. Results showed that concentrations of SPBDEs in blubber of female and male beluga are no longer increasing. In females, PBDE concentrations reached a plateau around 1999 followed by a significant decrease starting in 2003. In males, PBDE concentrations have ceased to exponentially increase after 2002 but there is no evidence of a recent decrease. These changes in temporal trends of PBDE concentrations in beluga are likely a result of a slowdown in industrial use and production of PBDEs and/or importation of goods containing these chemicals.