Polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a one-off global survey of bivalves

Abstract

During the Danish Galathea 3 expedition, bivalve samples were collected at the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Ghana, South Africa, Australia, Solomon Islands, New Zealand, Chile, US Virgin Islands, Boston, Newfoundland and Shetland Islands and analysed for organochlorines and PAHs. Concentration differences of up to three orders of magnitude were observed, with the highest concentrations at Boston harbour (ΣPCB 338 ng g⁻¹ dw, ΣPAH 5966 ng g⁻¹ dw) and the Sydney estuary (ΣPCB 282 ng g⁻¹ dw, ΣPAH 1453 ng g⁻¹ dw). Local impacts were also found for the Greenland capital Nuuk in terms of PCB and PAH levels, while other Greenland samples came closest to representing PAH background levels. Several locations had undetectable organochlorine levels, including Hobart and Chile, which had the lowest ΣPAH concentrations (<200 ng g⁻¹ dw). It was possible to group the stations according to their pyrogenic/petrogenic influence using Principal Component Analyses, and indications of petroleum sources were found at Nuuk.