Analysis of organotins in seawater of the Southern Ocean and Suruga Bay, Japan, by gas chromatography/inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Abstract

Organotins are widespread in the world's oceans and have a detrimental effect on organisms. However, there is little information on their distribution in the Southern hemisphere. We analyzed organotins in seawater from the Southern Ocean and Suruga Bay, Japan, using gas chromatography/inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Organotins were compared in two contrasting environments--one in shallow, temperate coastal waters (Suruga Bay) and the other in cold, deep waters of the far Southern Ocean. Twelve kinds of organotins were detected from Suruga Bay, with tributyltin (0.184-13.6 ng Sn/L) and total organotins (0.801-19.7 ng Sn/L). In contrast, three kinds of organotins were detected in the Southern Ocean, with total organotins (from not detected to 0.266 ng Sn/L). The ratios of degraded products of tributyltin and triphenyltin from the Southern Ocean were higher than those in Suruga Bay, suggesting that fresh input of organotins into the Southern Ocean is relatively low. The presence of butyltins in Antarctic sediments and biota has been demonstrated previously; however, the present study is the first to describe trace levels of organotins in the Southern Ocean approximately 1,000 km from Antarctica.