Temporal trends and spatial distribution of dioxins and furans in lake trout or lake whitefish from the Canadian Great Lakes

Abstract

Concentrations of the seventeen 2,3,7,8-substituted, most toxic congeners of polychlorinated dibenzo- p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) were measured in lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush) or lake whitefish ( Coregonus clupeaformis) collected between 1989 and 2003 from the Canadian Great Lakes as a part of the on-going Sport Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. These monitoring data were used to assess temporal trends and spatial variations of these compounds in the Canadian Great Lakes. Toxic equivalents (TEQs) were calculated using the measured congener concentrations and toxicity equivalency factors (TEFs) published by the World Health Organization in 1998. Five congeners, namely 2,3,7,8-TCDD, 2,3,7,8-TCDF, 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD, 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDF, and 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF, were the most dominant congeners among the 17 congeners analyzed. The highest TEQs were found for Lake Ontario lake trout (22–54 pg g −1) while the TEQs for the other Canadian Great Lakes were 60–95% lower. Non-parametric Mann–Kendall and Sen’s tests performed on TEQs and PCDD/Fs standardized at a mean lake trout length of 60 cm suggest a linearly decreasing trend for PCDD/Fs in lake trout from Lakes Ontario and Huron. There was no monotonously increasing or decreasing trend found for Lake Superior lake trout. The ratios of 2,3,7,8-TCDD to 2,3,7,8-TCDF concentrations were generally constant during the 1989–2003 period with the values being in the order of Lakes Superior (0.05–0.3) ⩽ Huron (0.16–0.25) ≪ Ontario (0.56–0.88). These spatial differences observed in the relative abundance of TCDD and TCDF suggest that the sources of dioxins and furans differ between the upper and lower Great Lakes.