Residues of Persistent Organochlorine Contaminants in Southern Elephant Seals from Elephant Island, Antarctica

It was found that DDT compounds and PCBs are the most accumulated POPs in the blubber of elephant seals. The relative importance of other OC pesticides in blubber tissue, such as mirex, methoxychlor, dieldrin, and -HCH, indicates that pesticides used either currently or in the recent past in countries in the southern hemisphere are the sources of contamination in the Antarctic region.

Pups and juveniles of elephant seals had accumulated significant quantities of persistent contaminants as a result of contaminant transfer from mother seals through transplacental and lactational routes and therefore monitoring of marine mammals from Antarctica should continue to evaluate whether the concentrations of these compounds are increasing over time.