Cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes in fish from the Baltic Sea

Abstract

Laboratory studies suggest that the cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes (cVMS) octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) and dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6) will persist in the aquatic environment and bioaccumulate in fish. Here these cVMS were measured in herring collected in the Swedish waters of the Baltic Sea and the North Sea and in grey seals from the Baltic Proper. D4, D5, and D6 were present in herring muscle at concentrations around 10, 200, and 40ngg−1 lipid weight, respectively. The ratio of these concentrations was similar to the relative magnitude of estimated emissions to water, suggesting that the efficiency of overall transfer through the environment and food web was similar (within a factor 2–3) for the three chemicals. The concentrations of D5 and D6 were similar in herring caught in the highly populated Baltic Proper and in the less populated Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay. The D4 concentrations were lower at the most remote northern station, suggesting that D4 is less persistent than D5 and D6. Herring from the North Sea had lower levels of all three chemicals. The concentrations of D4, D5 and D6 in grey seal blubber were lower than the lipid normalized concentrations in herring, indicating that they do not biomagnify in grey seals.