Tris(4-chlorophenyl)methane and Tris(4-chlorophenyl)methanol in Sediment and Food Webs from the Baltic South Coast

Abstract

Tris(4-chlorophenyl)methane (TCPM-H) and tris(4-chlorophenyl)methanol (TCPM-OH) were identified and quantified in fishes (4.1-37 ng/g lipids), fish-eating birds (120-630 ng/ g), and marine mammals (13-31 ng/g) from the southern part of the Baltic Sea as well as in the egg and tissues of white-tailed sea eagles from the Baltic coastal ( 0.05) between TCPM-H/OH and DDTs in black cormorant and also in 11 species of fish, while a positive (p < 0.05) relationship was found for a selected group of fish including flounder, perch, lamprey, and three-spined stickleback. Similar to fish, marine mammals (such as harbor porpoise), black cormorants, and white-tailed sea eagles apparently bioaccumulate and biomagnify TCPM-H/OH. Both TCPM-H and TCPM-OH are enriched in a marine food web to a higher degree than DDTs, and both these compounds seem to be much more persistent contaminants under environmental conditions than DDT and its analogues.