Occurrence of butyltin compounds in water and mussel samples collected in an oil port

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to follow the seasonal variations of butyltin compounds in water and mussels under natural conditions in the Genoa oil port. To this purpose, water and organisms were collected in the same location within the port, at two-monthly intervals, between 1997 and 1998. The extraction of organotin compounds was performed both on unfiltered and filtered seawater to determine partitioning between the dissolved and the particulate phases. Moreover the extraction was carried out on the whole body, gills and digestive glands of mussels to analyze the distribution in marine organism tissues. The determinations were carried out using a HPLC-hydride generation-ICP/AES system. The results revealed the presence of tributyltin, dibutyltin and monobutyltin in all matrices, showing variations during the sampling period. In particular, in oil port waters, butyltin compounds were predominantly in the dissolved phase. Moreover, comparing butyltin trends in water and in mussel tissues, the best correlation was found in gill distributions, in this tissue a higher tributyltin bioaccumulation factor was observed.