Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Comparison of organochlorine contaminants among sea otter (Enhydra lutris) populations in California and Alaska

Journal Article · · Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
;  [1];  [2]; ;  [3]
  1. Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States). Energy and Geosciences Inst.
  2. Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States)
  3. Canadian Wildlife Service, Hull, Quebec (Canada). National Wildlife Research Centre
Organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) including non-ortho PCBs, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) were measured in sea otter liver tissue from California, southeast Alaska, and the western Aleutian archipelago collected between 1988 and 1992. Average total dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane concentrations for California otters were over 20 times higher than in Aleutian otters and over 800 times higher than otters from southeast Alaska. Levels for total PCBs in Aleutian otters were 1.7 times higher than levels in California otters and 38 times higher than otters from southeast Alaska. Levels for PCDD and PCDF were extremely low in all otter populations. Levels of PCBs in Aleutian and Californian otters are abnormally high when compared with southeast Alaskan otters. The source of PCBs to the Aleutian Islands remains unclear and vital to understanding the potential impacts to sea otters.
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
355589
Journal Information:
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Journal Name: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 18; ISSN 0730-7268; ISSN ETOCDK
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English