Alternative flame retardants, Dechlorane Plus and BDEs in the blubber of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) stranded or bycaught in the UK during 2008

Thirty alternative flame retardant compounds and a suite of 17 brominated diphenyl ether (BDE) congeners were determined in the blubber of 21 harbour porpoises stranded or bycaught around UK coasts during 2008 using GCMS/MS. Of the 30 compounds, 19 were not detected. Of the remaining 11 compounds, some fell below the lowest calibration level and so were recorded as less than values, but were certainly present in the blubber samples (examples include tetrabromo-p-xylene (TBX), tetrabromo-o-chlorotoluene (TBCT) and 2,3-dibromopropy1-2,4,6-tribromophenyl ether (TBP-DBPE). Concentrations were low, the highest concentration being only 35 mu g kg(-1) wet weight. This contrasted with those of the BDEs, summed concentrations which ranged from 54.6 to 913 mu g kg(-1) wet weight, although levels in porpoise blubber have been declining since 1998. Both Dechlorane Plus (DDC-CO) isomers were detected in some samples, suggesting either that this product has been used in the UK or that its presence may result from atmospheric transport from source regions. BDE183, a marker for the octa-mix PBDE product, was found at low concentrations (0.63 to 1.7 mu g kg(-1) wet weight) and the four nonaand deca-BDE congeners were not detected in any sample. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.