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Article

Brominated Dibenzo-p-Dioxins: A New Class of Marine Toxins?

Supporting Info

Peter Haglund,*^† Anna Malmvärn,^‡ Sture Bergek,^† Anders Bignert,^§ Lena Kautsky, Takeshi Nakano, Karin Wiberg,^† and Lillemor Asplund^#

Department of Chemistry, Ume University, SE-901 87 Ume, Sweden, Departments of Environmental Chemistry, Botany, and Applied Environmental Science, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden, Contaminant Research Group, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Box 50007, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden, and Hyogo Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Science, 654-0037 Kobe, Japan

Environ. Sci. Technol., 2007, 41 (9), pp 3069–3074

DOI: 10.1021/es0624725

Publication Date (Web): March 28, 2007

Corresponding author phone: +46-90-7866667; fax: +46-90-128133; e-mail: peter.haglund@chem.umu.se.

†

Umeå University.

‡

Department of Environmental Chemistry, Stockholm University.

Swedish Museum of Natural History.

Department of Botany, Stockholm University.

Hyogo Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Science.

Department of Applied Environmental Science, Stockholm University.

Abstract

Levels of polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PBDDs) were measured in marine fish, mussels, and shellfish. PBDDs were nondetectable in samples from freshwater environments, and their levels were successively higher in samples from the marine environments of the Bothnian Bay and Bothnian Sea, the West Coast of Sweden, and the Baltic Proper. In Baltic Proper littoral fish the levels of PBDDs generally exceeded those of their chlorinated analogues (PCDDs). This is alarming as some Baltic fish species already are contaminated by chlorinated dioxins to such an extent that they cannot be sold on the European market. By comparing spatial trends in PBDD and PCDD distributions, and PBDD patterns in fish, mussels, and algae, we show that the PBDDs are probably produced naturally, and we propose a route for their biosynthesis. We further show that the levels of PBDDs are high (ng/g wet weight) in mussels, and that the levels increase over time. Finally, we discuss the possibility that the PBDDs have adverse biological effects, and that the levels are increasing as a result of global warming and eutrophication.

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