http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 18 Feb 2014 IP address: 143.107.21.4 Antarctic Science 25(4), 545–552 (2013) & Antarctic Science Ltd 2013 doi:10.1017/S0954102012001149 Persistent organic pollutants in bird, fish and invertebrate samples from King George Island, Antarctica CAIO V.Z. CIPRO 1,2 , FERNANDA I. COLABUONO 1 , SATIE TANIGUCHI 1 and ROSALINDA CARMELA MONTONE 1 1 Universidade de Sa ˜o Paulo, Instituto Oceanogra ´fico, Prac ¸a do Oceanogra ´fico, 191, 05508-900 Sa ˜o Paulo-SP, Brasil 2 Littoral Environnement et Socie ´te ´s (LIENSs), UMR 7266, CNRS-Universite ´ de La Rochelle, 2 rue Olympe de Gouges, 17042 La Rochelle Cedex 01, France caiovzc@usp.br Abstract: Despite small direct anthropic/anthropogenic influence, Antarctica cannot be considered out of the reach of pollutants. The present study evaluated the distribution and transfer of the following organic pollutants: PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), organochlorine pesticides and PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) in invertebrates, fish, bird eggs and liver samples from Admiralty Bay, King George Island, South Shetland Islands. The prevailing compounds were (in ng g -1 wet weight for species averages): PCBs up to 1821 for birds, 6.82 for fish and 41.3 for invertebrates, HCB (hexachlorobenzene) up to 69.8 for birds, 0.66 for fish and 0.56 for invertebrates and DDTs (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) up to 524 for birds, 3.04 for fish and 0.74 for invertebrates. PBDEs (detected only in bird eggs and liver, up to 39.1 and 7.95, respectively) occurred in levels one or two orders of magnitude lower than organochlorines, probably due to the lower and more recent usage of PBDEs. The qualitative profiles of PCBs agree with trophic level and diet data. PBDEs showed small difference in composition when compared to the technical product available in the Americas, especially in endemic species, which could indicate that fractionation does not have a major role for this contaminant group. Trophic level, but also and more importantly, diet, range, ecological niche and ‘‘growth dilution’’ effect explain the variation of pollutants concentrations found in this study. Received 11 December 2011, accepted 7 September 2012, first published online 11 January 2013 Key words: Antarctic biota, DDTs, marine pollution, organochlorine pesticides, PBDEs, PCBs Introduction Antarctica is the most isolated continent on Earth, but it has not escaped the negative impacts of human activity. The unique marine ecosystems of Antarctica and their endemic faunas are affected on local and regional scales by overharvesting, pollution and the introduction of alien species (Aronson et al. 2011). Several contaminants, with a wide variety of deleterious effects well reported in the scientific literature, may reach the Antarctic environment via atmospheric long range transport, whilst secondary sources such as migrating organisms or redistribution and concentration of contaminants that were already present cannot be disregarded (Roosens et al. 2007). Contaminants input via atmospheric transport is classically known as ‘‘global distillation’’, since compounds evaporate in warmer low/medium latitude regions and when they reach colder (by higher altitude or latitude) regions, they condense and consequently enter the local food web. These evaporation/deposition cycles and the consequent fractionations are also known as the ‘‘grasshopper effect’’ (Gouin et al. 2004). The cold conditions of the Antarctic environment favour persistence of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) with respect to temperate and tropical environments. The storage of lipids as an energy source makes Antarctic food webs vulnerable to bioaccumulative chemicals, and top predators (as some of the birds sampled) are the species exposed to greatest risk (Loganathan et al. 1990, Loganathan & Kannan 1991). The aim of the present work is to verify the occurrence and distribution patterns of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), organochlorine pesticides and PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) in invertebrates, fish and birds collected on King George Island, for which data on the occurrence of POPs is still scarce or nonexistent. Material and methods Area of study and sample collection King George Island (62805'S, 58823'W), the largest one of the South Shetland Islands, is separated from the northern portion of the Antarctic Peninsula by the Bransfield Strait. Limpets (Antarctic limpet, Nacella concinna (Strebel) were manually collected (2004–05 summer) in the intertidal zone. Fish (marbled rockcod, Notothenia rossii Richardson) were collected (2006–07 summer) by mid-water nets or by line and hook. Only unhatched bird eggs (skua, Catharacta sp.; kelp gull, Larus dominicanus Lichtenstein; and Antarctic tern, Sterna vittata Gmelin) were collected (2004–05 and 2005–06 545