Levels of Hexachlorocyclohexanes and Dichloro-Dipheny-Trichloroethanes in Penguin Droppings Collected from Ardley Island, Maritime Antarctic

ABSTRACT

This article reports the concentrations of hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) and dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethanes (DDTs) in fresh Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis Papua) droppings deposited on the Ardley Island (62°13′S, 58°56′W), West Antarctica, and those in the island's two lake cores. In the fresh penguin droppings, metabolites were the predominant constituents of the DDT group, most likely due to the ban on DDT use in agriculture and the higher stability of the metabolites in the environment. In contrast, γ-HCH comprised 66% of the total HCHs, apparently due to the continuous use of Lindane in the Southern Hemisphere. The concentrations of HCHs and DDTs in the fresh droppings are many times higher than those in penguin plume, the latter currently being used as biomaterial for monitoring coastal contaminations in Antarctica. Results of this study indicate that penguin droppings have a good potential for use as another biomonitoring material in detecting the organochlorine pesticides and other contaminants in the maritime Antarctic. Because penguin droppings can be well preserved in lake sediments, they also provide a good and continuous historical record of these contaminants. The slight increase of DDTs since the 1990s, as observed in the aged penguin droppings in the sediment cores, suggests there have been new inputs of DDT into the Antarctic coastal ecosystem, probably from the illegal use of DDT in the Southern Hemisphere.

Key Words:

• organochlorine pesticides (OCPs)
• HCH and DDT
• penguin droppings
• lake sediment
• biomonitoring material
• maritime Antarctic.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We gratefully acknowledge two anonymous reviewers and Professor Kenneth A. Rahn of the Center for Atmospheric Chemistry Studies, University of Rhode Island, for his valuable comments and critical reviews. The authors also thank the Polar Office of the National Oceanic Bureau of China and members of the 16th and 18th Antarctic Research Expedition of China for their support and assistance. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40476001 and 40076032).