Abstract
In the 1960s, the Baltic Sea was severely polluted by organic contaminants such as PCBs, HCHs, HCB, and DDTs. Elevated concentrations caused severe adverse effects in Baltic biota. Since then, these substances have been monitored temporally and spatially in Baltic biota, primarily in herring (Clupea harengus) and in guillemot (Uria aalge) egg, but also in cod (Gadus morhua), perch (Perca fluviatilis), eelpout (Zoarces viviparous), and blue mussel (Mytilus edulis). These chemicals were banned in Sweden in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Since the start of monitoring, overall significant decreases of about 70–90 % have been observed. However, concentrations are still higher in the Baltic Sea than in, for example, the North Sea. CB-118 and DDE exceed the suggested target concentrations (24 µg kg−1 lipid weight and 5 µg kg−1 wet weight, respectively) at certain sites in some of the monitored species, showing that concentrations may still be too high to protect the most sensitive organisms.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0673-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
In the 1960s, the Baltic Sea was found to be severely polluted by organic contaminants, e.g., polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) including its metabolites (Jensen et al 1969, 1972)
Concentrations of CB-153 decreased over the monitoring period for all species and sampling sites, with most trends significant
Trends were similar for CB-118, with concentrations decreasing over the monitoring period for most species and sampling sites (Table S3 in ESM)
Summary
In the 1960s, the Baltic Sea was found to be severely polluted by organic contaminants, e.g., polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) including its metabolites (Jensen et al 1969, 1972). (Halichoerus grypus, Pusa hispida, and Phoca vitulina) as well as the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) in the Baltic (Helle et al 1976a, b; Helander et al 2002; Bredhult et al 2008) These discoveries led to the start of an environmental contaminant research program at the Swedish Museum of Natural History (SMNH). PCBs, HCHs, HCB, and DDTs are among the initial 12 persistent organic pollutants (POPs) included in The Stockholm Convention on POPs (UNEP 2008). They are all persistent, hydrophobic, bioaccumulative, and toxic, and can cause adverse effects in humans and wildlife (UNEP 2008). In Sweden, these contaminants have been banned or their use restricted since the 1970s or the beginning of the 1980s
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