Polychlorinated naphthalenes and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls in tissues of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) from the northern Gulf of Alaska

Blubber, liver and kidney samples of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) from the northern Gulf of Alaska were collected during 2000–2001 for the analysis of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (CoplPCBs). On the lipid weight (lw) base, the total concentrations of PCNs (∑PCNs) ranged from 0.3 to 27 ng/g lw, and the total concentrations of CoplPCBs (∑CoplPCBs) were 3.6–546 ng/g lw in all the tissue samples. Di-ortho PCBs and mono-ortho PCBs were dominant followed by non-ortho PCBs and PCNs. ∑Mono-ortho PCBs and ∑di-ortho PCBs in nursing seals were apparently lower than those in male adult seals, but ∑PCNs and ∑non-ortho PCBs in female adults were not significantly different from those in male adults. Differences in PCNs and CoplPCBs congener profiles in female and male adult seals are apparently related to their chemical structure and properties, animal’s developmental stages and physiological conditions. A large quantity of mono-ortho and di-ortho PCBs might be transferred to newborns from the nursing seals during lactation, while non-ortho PCBs and PCNs were relatively accumulative in the mother seals. ∑PCNs and ∑CoplPCBs in the harbor seals correlated with ages, gender, body weight and blubber thickness, but the blubber ∑PCNs and ∑CoplPCBs in Kodiak Island and Southern Alaska Peninsula (KIAP) did not significantly differ from those in Prince William Sound (PWS). In addition to the new PCB data, this first report on PCN contamination in Alaskan harbor seal tissues is useful for the wildlife and ecosystem management and human health protection.