Document 8RaRDLaerjb6Mmrk9rppkeb0e

r rrftW* ^? 11 i -/-/ j 6uj/t.y,w ~&>S /??? The problem of Ieau poisoning in Lebanon 1ms not received the attention that it had in many other countries of the world. It may seem that the problem is even worse than it would appear because the largest amount of fishing is at the points of highest lead '*<>rcentration. The point of highest lead concentration is the west end of Rss Beirut, point 13 in Figure 1, which is heavily fished. The dock area whicli is a centre of net fishing in Beirut, also has a high concentration of lead. We wish to think Dr S. Deeb (American University of Beirut, Lebanon) for his helpful su|geitions sod his review of this paper. John G. Siiiber* American Community School. Bryan Ramsay! Beirut, Lebanon. Present audrett: Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana. UOA. t Present address: University of Notre Dame, Notie Dame. Indiana, USA. B*own, B. A Ahtuna!!ait. M./I97I). Effect of heavy metafs on mortality and frowth. Mar. Poll. Mutt. 2 (12): 1B2-1S6. Chisolm, J. (1971). JLead poisoning. Sci. Amer., 224 (2): 15-23. Chow. T. ). (1971). Reported in Lead in the sea. Mar. Poll. Bull., 2 (I): 1 Craij. S. (1967). Toxic Ions in bivalves. J. Amtr. Osttop. Assn.. 66 (9): 1,000-1002. Dorfman, D. A Whitworth, W. (19691 Effect of lead in brook trow. J. FIs. Fes. Full. Can.. 26 (9): 2,493*2.501. GalTord, R. D. (1970). "Automation of monitoring equipment for marine pollution studies." FAO Technical Conference on Marine rollutfon and Us Effects on Living Resources end Fishing. Rome, Italy, December 1970, E*I5. Portmann, I. E. (1970). Possible dangers of marine pollution as a ter '*of mining operation for tuetal ores. FAO Tec'.nicol Conference on Marine Pollution and Its Effects on Ltvtng Resources and Fishing, Rome, Italy, December 1970, E-32. Polychlorinated Biphenyls in North Atlantic Seabirds Polyrhlorfnafed biphenyls are usually thought to be discharged fh industrial effluents and therefore to be commonest fat inshore waters close to centres of industry. It now appears that high concentrations are found in petagfO'fecdfng seabirds from the North Atlantic, far from possible indortrtal sources of these compounds. Organochlortnes have been known to be present in British seabird eggs for a decade (Moore A Tatton, f 1965). and substantial amounts in a pelagic seabird frequenting one of the remotest North Atlantic breeding ' sites, the Bermuda petrel Pterodroma cahow, and traces in Antarctic species, for half that time (Wurster A Wingete, 1968; Sladen et al.. 1966). At first these were identified as pesticides and their metabolites, but more recently polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) used in in dustry have been detected as well, at first as a source of interference in other estimations and then as addi tional contaminants (Jensen, 1966; 1972) in a number of highly polluted areas in Europe and North America such as the Baltic (Jensen et at, 1969), Dutch Waddenzee fiCoeman et at.. 1969) and coasi of California (Risebrough et a!., 196E). Their presence was noticed in British seabirds such as the guillemot and kittiwake in the first report of their occurrence in British wildlife (Holmes et al. 1967) but, while a few quantitative estimations are given in one review of their occurrence in British birds (Prestt et at., 1970), and considerable concentrations were found It the livers of some of the large aur< washed up starving around the Irish Sea in the autumn of 1969 (Holdgate, 1971), there is still comparatively little pub lished information available on their occurrence in the more pelagic species in the North Atlantic. We are therefore placing on record the results of a preliminary examination of a numbe* of birds collected in i** course of other work in areas between Britain and the Arctic. Methods The specimens examined were selected to include a representative range of the more marine sj ;ci.s and types of body available for analysis. All tissue samples were subjected to Soxhk-t extraction ^veuiijjht with hexane: acetone. After evaporation of the *-;b'ent, the residue was made up with hexane. Muscle and lives samples were cleaned up on florisil columns di ectly, while fat and oil samples were subjected to dimethylfonnamide liquid-liquid partition, (De Paul ivuum'tr et at., 1964) before florisil. PCBs along wit.. DDT com pounds were separated from DDD and ^pDD f on silica columns (Holden A Marsden, 1 >69) or r..jre com monly by saponification with alcoholu- KOiI. PCBs were identified by the peak pattern obtains on three gas chromatography columns, SE-30. CEXE-60 c* SE30-Oi~i compsieu >th a peak pattrra obtained usi.r a d mixture Aroclor 1254 (Monsanto). The identity of the peaks was confirmed by mass speci.u- - were quantified using a meuiod Imilai n that of Risebrough er al. (1968). Thli method gave ex cellent results using Aroclor 1254. but the relative puk heights in the seabird sample * are different from those with Aroclor 1254, introducing some u.'.-xuiacies. How ever, the relative peak heights in all the seab<rc s were similar and direct comparisons between th>m cai be made with greater accuracy. While DDE, wl. It wa: the commonest of the other organochlortnes pr.sent. can not be separated satisfactorily from a *CB with a similar retention time, in the majority of the samples where the PCB/DDE ratio is low the interference by PCBs in the osterminaiutn of D~fc is ia"'y small. Where the ratio is 1 -yer than ten, the interference is substantial. In the results given in Table i the DDE value ' calculated f^m the total height of the peak wuh a retention time equal to that of DDE. Tt'us wl."* the PCB/DDL *'* o is large, it should probably be t*,en greater thar that rccord-d. Kesults TJiC results are interring in a number of reap*..,.' I- ;t*e first place, the relation found betwee i PCBs >*no MUNS 08552? 171 TA*LB t Polychlorinated biphenyls in seabird*. Spedea Fulmar Fulmarus /forfeits Oreat ahearwatei fuffins gravis Manx ihearwater Puffinus puffinus British storm-petrel Hydrobates pclaglcus Oaonet Sul* bassana Shag Phalacrocorax arlstotelis O.aat skua Catharacto skua Arctic skua Stercorarlus parasiticus Olauoous full Lotus kypsrborsus Great black-backed gull Lotus marlnus Lesser black-backed gull Lotus fuscus Hairing gull Lotus orgentatus KJttiwake Plsso trldactyla Arctic tern Stsrna paradlsea Blade guillemot Cepphus grytts Common guillemot Urh ealgt MONS 0855ab Origin Date 60*081* o4*oow 60*3174 04*5211/ 60*22'N 04*3nV 60`26'N 04*39^ 59*541* 03*45^ 60*21^4 oo*zyw 57*0014 oo*jrw Bear bland Davis Strait Fife Trinidad Trinidad Rhum, Inverness Rhum, Inverness 571 5.71 5.71 5.71 5.71 7.71 7.71 7.72 8.72 11.71 6.72 6.72 3.71 3.71 Shetlrnd Shetlaod Shetland Aberdeenshire 6.72 6.72 6.72 9.71 Fife Stornoway Shetland 3.72 5.72 5.71 Loch Rjddon, Argyll 9.70 59*5474 03*45*W 01*157) 00*1315 59*5874 04*03W Fouls, Shetland Foula, Shetland Foula, Shetland 5.71 7.71 5.71 7.72 7.72 7.72 58*4874 00*1613 7.71 Bear Island Bear bland Bear bland Bear bland Bear blaod Bear bland North Rona North Rona Faroes Faroes Faroes 62*0074 06* 121V 7.72 7.72 7.72 7.72 7.72 7.72 6.72 6.72 7.7t 7.71 7.71 5.71 Faroes Aberdeenshire ble of May, Fife ble of May, Fife ble of May, Fife 7.71 5.71 5.72 5.72 60*2074 04*25^ gn*ij7>j im'cjw <6*08'N ocoo'w 60*227) 04*31'W 58*1274 00'M'S 57*2074 00*2<TE 57*0074 00*317 Bear bland Davis Stale 58*0374 02*201V 60*2274 04*31*W 5.71 3.71 5.71 5.71 7.71 7.71 7.71 7.72 8.72 2.71 5.71 S^tund Shetland 6.72 6.72 Stornoway Hebrides 1.72 Faroes Faroes Faoes Faroes Faroes 58*0074 02*221V 58*0071 02*221* 58*4874 00*167 Beer bland 57*3371 01*437 57*337) 01*437 Loch Riddon, Ar;vll Abedeenshire Shetland Aberdeenshire Prestwick, Ayr 7.71 7.71 7.71 7.71 771 7.71 7.71 **.71 7.72 7.7 77| 9.70 8.71 4.71 3.72 9.70 Weight I50g 880g 890g 965g 630g 850g 750g 700g - 38 5g 447* _ _ , - -- 20+f 3300* 2700* - _ 1400* _ -- -- - 350* 1300* 1300* 1590* 1550* 1850* 1900* _ - 00* 760* _ 107_3* - 420* 380* 445* 320* 400* 300* 300* 450* 325* 395* - 854* 140* 867' 864* 968* 10001 900* 950* 1100* 700* 850* 110--0* - - Liver 3.2 5.0 12 1.5 2.1 5.5 5.9 1.6 4.2 17.8 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.2 . ; 3.2 7.0 2.2 2.2 3.0 44.5 0.2 18.3 6.2 5.9 4.1 4.2 0.05 3.6 311.0 13.0 40.0 6.0 34.0 28.0 6.8 0.2 9.4 6.4 < * 12.7 12.6 0.2 0.2 17 0.6 3.5 z.z 2.1 20.6 4.5 3.4 4.6 1.6 3.2 0.3 4.8 0.7 0.e 02 Muscle 3.1 9.4 1.7 2.3 2.8 3.9 4.1 26 3.7 5.2 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.2 3.6 3.3 6.4 18.7 2.1 3.2 12.9 0.3 32.0 18.0 15.5 110 10.2 * 1.5 88.0 36.0 11.0 8.0 20.0 WO - 3.9 3.4 7.8 10.2 134 0.2 05 1.2 1.0 t? J.U 0.5 5.6 38 4.2 4.5 3.7 1.9 0.4 3.3 03 0.3 0.2 0.6 0.4 ,.l a7 0.8 0.4 0.6 07 0.6 0.4 0.9 0.5 7.6 4.6 0.5 0.2 as 0.8 0.5 0.3 0.04 0.03 - 0.1 0.1 0.1 6.0 1.2 0.6 0.3 0.2 02 Fat 57 103 32 42 40 5_5 12.9 _ - - 74 m ~ I -.5 IV _ -- 535 -- -- -15.6 - 8.8 34.1 8.6 24 to -- 18 -- 3.6 - - " -- -- 4.7 -- -- 11.8 " Ratio 7 10 6 5 6 5 6 5 2 4 0.6 1 2 2 8 S 8 5 7 6 5 5 \ 1 V 4 4 3 4 3 c 3 t <3 0-1 7 5 5 4 6 4 i 8 7 12 60 15 40 .u <k) :.o 25 6 30 7 i* 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 74 4 5 5 3 3 6 7 i . T B i a ' - S 8 t i : 8 i r s a B B S an.8 3 8 8 8 8 8 ( 8 8 8 8 8 : 8 8 'J Z y 8 8 8 : 8 8 S t- I# " 8 8 ? ? 8 8 8 8 8 w w 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 Notes Specie* Origin Data Weight Liver Muscle Fat ratio Note* BmnnlcVi guillemot Vrio lomvlo Raeoibill Alea tordo FuSle Frattrcula aretka Little auk Atte nth Bear bland Bear blaod Davit Strait Davit Strait Faroes Faroes 38*04'N 02*22^ Aberdeenshire Stornoway Aberdeenshire Faroe* Faroes Faroes Faroes Faroes 31*4174 00'16'E 38*4874 00*1612 58*48'N 00* I6TJ Spitsbergen Spitsbergen Davit Strait Davit Strait Bear bland Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire Sutherland 7.72 7.72 8.72 8.72 7.71 7.71 7.71 8.71 1.72 2.72 7.71 7.71 7.71 7.71 7.71 7.71 7.71 7 7.72 7.72 1.72 8.72 7.72 1.71 2.72 2.72 97Sg HOOg -- - 660j 670g 700g 800g 430g - 424g 320* 418g 391g 383g 450* 430g 400g -- -- Sue* 330g _ - 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.03 1.2 0.3 0.4 2.7 2.7 40.7 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.6 0.3 0.7 0.2 0.3 * 0.3 0.2 0.02 0.03 0.7 IM 3.4 6.0 0.2 3.1 2 0.1 3.1 2 0.1 0.03 1.7 as 2 2 0.6 - 3 0.3 . -- 0.3 -- 8 3 2.0 - 15 1.6 - 6 3.3 - 8 0.1 _ 5 0.2 -- 5 0.1 - 7 0.3 -- 4 0.2 -- 4 0.4 -- 6 0.1 - 6 01 - 6 02 3.2 5 0.1 24 3 0.02 0.23 2 0.03 0.3 2 0.2 * 3 LI -- 7 11 - S i.2 - 4 ca aa car d es a ear 8 d oa ea ea ca ca es ca ea ea b b a* m : e * aught or shot; b fouod dad; o - oiled; i " immature (under ooe year); a subadult (over one ye <r, cot yet deeding); a m fully adult; r > in wing moult 1. Stomach oil contained 1.3 ppm PCBt. 2. An unusually small bird with advanced aspergillosis. ). Ringed as an adult on Autkerry, Orkney, on 18.171. 4. Individuals from among some dozens of adult Gannets found dead without obvious cause along first the north-easi and than west coast of Britain in the spring of 1972, possibly suffering from s virus disease? ). Both ringed es chicks on Fouls, the mat on 14.7.66, the second at about that time (details not yet available), probably not yet breeding. 6. Bird captured to convulsions above seabird colony. r. 7. Adult and chick found in oompany together. 8. Collected together while flichtleea In wing moult 9. Oiled bird from local breeding colony. Brain contained 2 ppm PCBs. , 10. Representative examples of immature* found dead in numb-rs A* winter, except that It bad a localised fr.*Ser defect of one wing of the sort discussed In British Birds 63: 34-36; 64: 229-230; 64: 236; 6$: 83**'; aao ttivine Mmton Bulletin 3 (10): 149-132. 11. From the site of maximum mortality of 1969 blrdkill. orgioochlorine pesticides in the North Pacific, where pesticides always occur in greater quantities than PCBs though the ratio varies locally (Risebrough it a!., !968) is reversed in the north-east Atlantic, where PCBs tre the dominant compounds detected. Secondly, al though many of the large: auks were found to be carry ing c*wioervble losds of PCBs and other toxic chemicals ouriog the blrdkill in the Irish Sea during the autumn of 1969 (Holdgate, 1971), it was not they, nor other offshore-feeding fish-eaters such as the shag and shear waters which were found to be carrying the largest loads of orgaoochlorine at sea to the north, but a variety of more pelagic species which probably feed largely on plankton, including the fulmar, British stormpetrel and iitUwake, and especially the skuas and gu!!j frequenting Isolated seabird breeding colonies. It was notable also that the gulls carried more organochlorioe here than aiong the mainland coast, and indeed the highest value recorded was fouod in a glaucous gull caught in con vulsions above the bird-cliffs of Bear Island in the Arctic, where judging by their pellets these birds we., feeding entirely on seabirds' eggs (Bogan A Bourne. 1972). A number of incidental findings are also of interest. The kittiwake rather consistently had higher PCB/DC*? ratios than the other species examined. It is not clear why this should be, since many other birds share a rather simitar distribution, diet and way of life, but it may be a reflection of obscure differences in these facto" or their metauv/.hm. Altboi' ih their range i* wij similar to that of the fulmar, for example, t/iey may prefer warmer surface waters, r* ter.,, jo t ie Wes.*"* .forth Atlantic (Brown. 1968). Tie lowest PCB/DDE ratio 7/as found in t* single adult great" black-backed gull from North Ron* off the Hebrides, but it may h-.i picked up ar. ir.^c'"ed amount of DDE in wioter quarters inland, and it is notable that the ratio was higher in a chick bred locally. Aer this the next lowest ratio was found in the two species of shearwater in birds which had just returned from winter quarters in the South Atlantic, where PCB' may stilt be relatively scarce compounds. It i; -\o notable that the total organochlorioe load was low in both species, so that fat-level* ioninj into hundreds of parts per million reported iu great shearw*ers and Wilson's storm-petrels Oceartius oceanicus off New England (Risebrough, 1971) mon presumably be due to local pcllmicn, and indew^ intoxication may expl'an why these birds r'ere :-> easy to catch (Gill it ul., i970). ft is tempt;;ig to speculate that this ar:i of high portion off the east coast of North America may be one major source of contamination of wate* reaching Europe and the Arctic in the North Atlantic Drift, since the organochlorine level* were remarkably uniform ir cvuip?.r'tie birds that we examined from Scotland. 1> Faroes, the Barents Sea, and around 65N 54*W in die Davis Strait, which sugb^sts dissemination from some distant source away from Europe. The lev:'.* wer* a 173 M m CO o c/> X little lower in the Arctic auks, and they also had lower while its southern populations are also known to be PCB/DDE ratios, but the difference was not marked contaminated (Tatton A Ruzictca. 15o7) end we have except in puffins from the Davis Strait . now shown that gulls may be affected fatally at a very It seems fortunate that while the fulmars had 13 to remote site, the consequences could be serious for them. 103 ppm PCBs in their fat and at least 1.2 ppm in Since it has been estimated by a panel reporting to Other tissues, there was only 1.3 ppm in the sample of the US Netional Academy of Sciences that only a the stomach oil fed to the chick examined. This suggests quarter of the organochlorines already present in natural that at least they are not poisoning their offspring by reservoirs have yet reached the sea, and their half-lives patting on the level found in the fat, as might be feared. may be of the order of decades (Goldberg et ai,, 1971). A newly-fledged guillemot collected in the centre of the and it seems difficult to dispute the general principle North Sea contained only a tenth as much organochl- involved in this argument whatever the extent to which orine as its adult escort, and there was not much more the details may be disputable, it remains to H<* seen how in two immature guillemots, one oiled and one shot, far this progressive accumulation of PCBs in marine collected in the autumn of 1970 in the region of maxi* wildlife may proceed before the recent ban by one of mum mortality for the species the year before (Hold- several manufacturers on their sale for open use lakes gate, 1971) on either side of the Glasgow sludge-dump effect, or what the ultimate consequences may be. and a drain known to discharge PCBs (Holden, 1970; Tfct. ejection of many of the fc, ' .-u* used in this study Waddingion & Best. 1972). A young greater blackbacked gull contained only a thirtieth the amount occurred in the course of an inveitigation of the ecology of bird* \t sea financed by a grant to Professor O. M. Dunnet of Culterty Field Station, Aberdeen University, e/ the Nature! oeganochicrine in an adult found dead with it. and a Environment Research Council, and we are grateful to the young skua only a hundredth the amount in an tuff of the Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen, end tbe research and patrol vessels of the Department of Agriculture and other adult of that species found dead nearby. It would Fisheries for Scotland for their essiatence; Mr T. I. Dixon who appear that the birds must acquire their organochlorine collected meny of the specimens; Mr Andrias Reinert who loads late in lift. Although Antarctic penguins showed supplied those from the Faroes; Professor E. Bnm of Tromso University who arranged for the second author to visit Bear raised organc nlorb*.: levels when they were starving bland; Dr B. Tull who collected the birds from the Davis during the *nuat moult (Sladen et al, 1966) and they Strait; Mrs C GalJacher for technical assistance and Messrs were often raised in the livers of emaciated moulting B. B. Parrish and Stanley Cramp and Professor Dunoet who commented on a draft of this note. auks washed ashore on the nsrth-east coast in spring W. R. P. Bourne (Parslow et al., 19/2) and around the Irish Sea in The Seabird Croup, autumn (Holdaa**, 1971) in 1969, a razorbill and Department of Zoology, r common and Brunnichs guillemots collected in full Aberdeen, wing-moult hut exceptionally frit bad normal organ- AB92TN, Scotland. ochloru.8 levels. The organochlorine levels in the livers of many c' the beached birds were raised relative to University of Glasgow, J. A. Bogan muscle levels. Clearly the levels found in bird bodies depends on thn past history of Uw bird, those in fat and muscle of healthy birds proviu^ an indication of the Department of Veterinary Pharmacology, Veterinary Hospital, Bearsden Road, initial J'vel, and that in ui. liver compared with these Bearsden, Glasgow, Scotland. an indication of the extent to which organochlorine my have beeo mobilized diring a period of stress before death. It seems clear from riwc. results that not only sea birds frequenting enclosed waters but also the North AtlcLti- avifauna in ?re now accumulating PCBs as well as other toxic chemicals. The most markedly affect'd pelagic species, the great skua, fulmar, kod kittiwake, like the gulls which are also known to accumulate large amounts of organocholorine both along the coart and inland before it has much effect (Keith, l?u6), have all been increasing for years u the result of a combination of protection at the breeding placer Cvr.bined with the provision uf food by man in the fo'tn of fih offal at s<* and garbage ashore. It teems posslnli however. th^k thr organochlorine levels now accumulating in partially predatory species such li the glaucous gulls and great skua and its eggs (Prestt ef al., 1970) might soon otgtn o affect them adversely if they prove a; susceptible o them as the Scottish coastal peregrine! Fab-o peregrinus which also feed largely on seabrds and are showing a sustained decline despite mcMurea to control the use of organochlorine pesticides island (Rato.de. 1972). Since the total populations oi these b>rf* ere not vast, the skua in particular nesting in f^rce only in the northern hemis phere in a limited area between Scotland and Iceland, Bogan, I- A. A Bourne, W. R. P. (1972). Organochlorine levels' in Atlantic Seabirds. Nature iu , Brown, R. G. B. (1968). Seabirds in Newfoundisno and Green land waters, April-May, 1966. Coned. Field Net. Us 48-102. De Pauberi Maunder, M. J., Egan. J-. Oofly, E. W., Hammond. B. W., Robum, J. A Thomson, J. (1964). Ckan up of Animal Fats and Dairy Products for the enalysia of chlorinated pesticide residues. Analyst 19; 161-174. Gill, D. E., Sladen. W. J. L. A Huntington, C E. (1970). A Technique for capturing Petrels ana Shearwaters at Sea. Bird Bonding 41s 111-113. Goldberg, E. D., Butler, P., Meier, P., Menzel, D.. Paulik, O., Rlteltrough, R. A Stockel, L. F. (1971). Chlorinated hydro carbons in the marine environment. A report prepared by the panel on monitoring persistent pesticides in the marine environment ot Sr Committee on Oceanography. National Academy of Sciences, Washington. DC. Holden. A. V. (1970). Source of polychlorinated biphenyl w.v lamination in the marine environment. Nature 228: 1,220 1,221. Hoiden, A. V. A Meriden. K. (1969). Single-str*: clean up of animal tissue extracts for orgao*.b5orlnc residue analysis. J. Chromofog. 44: 481-492. Hold*.ate, M. W. The seabird wrecv of 1969 in tha fritr *- . A report by the Natural Environmei.. ne carch Council. Holmes. D. C., Simmons, I. H. A Tatlo:. I. O'G (1967). Chlorinated hydrocarbons in British wildlife. Nature 216: 227*229. Jens-n, S. (1966). Quoted in `Report of a new cWc-Ical hazard*. New Sci. 32: 612. lenten, S. (1972). The PCB Story. Amble l. J^-HI Jensen, S., Johnels, A. O.. Olsson, vi A 0*4.i;!:uJ, G. (1969). DDT and PCB in marine animals from Swedish waters. Nature 2Z4: 247-250. 174 HONS QB5530 Ktitb. I. O. 0966). Reproduction In popuNttoo of Herring unlit (Lotus ar'tntatus) tonltmlmbd by DDT. /. Apyt. Bail J (Suppi.) 37-70. *oemin, J. H., ten Noevtr de Buuw, M. C. A de Vos, R. H. (IMP). Chlorinated Wpbcoyis b flih. musscb and birdt from the River Rhioe end the Netherlands coastal tree. Ntfvre 221, 1,126-1,121 Moore, N. W. A Tattoo, J. O'G. (1965). Chlorinated Insecticide reilduei in the etas of tea birds. Nature 207: 42-43. panlow, J, L. Y., Jefferies, D. J. A French, M. C. (1972). In setted pollutants In Puffins and their eggs. Bird Study 19: praett, L, Jefferies, D. J. A Moore, N. W. (1970). Polychlorinated Moheoyls in wild birds in Britain aod their toxicity. Bnvlronm. foil. 1: 3*26. RatcUffe, D. A. (1972). T?- peregrine population in Great Britain In 1971. Bird Study 19: 117-156. Risebrou;h, R. W. (I97IX Chlorinated hydrocarbons. In The impingement of man on the oceans. D. W. Hood (ad.) Wiley Intencience. ' Risebrough. R. W., Reiche, Peakall, D. B., Hennso, S. G. A Klrveo, M. N. (1968X Polychlorinated bipbenyle in th global ecosystem Nature 229: 1,091-1,102. Sladen, W. J. L., Menzie, C. M., A Reichel, W. L. (1966). DDT residues iu Adelie penguins and a crabeater seal from Antarctica. Nature 219: 670-673. Tatton, J. O'G. dt Ruricka, j. H. A. (1967). Organoehtorinc pesticides in Antarctica. Nature 216: 346-348. Waddington. J. I. A Best. O. A. (1972). PCBs in the Clyde. Scottish Wildlife Trust Newsletter 22: 28-29. Wurtter, C. F. A Wingate, D. B. (1968). DDT residues aod declining reproduction in the Bermuda petrel. Science 159: 979-951. Dear Sir, We reed with intereit the article by J. W. M. Logan ud E. J. Perkins, concerning the toxicity of Euolvcne (Marine Pollution Bulletin (1972) 3 (10)- 133). Table 1 gave the median tolerance level, lor tome freshwater invertebrates for Essolvsne alone end in com bination with either Kuwait crude oil or diesel oil. The last column of the table gave the toxicity of BP 1100 which ii one of the more recently developed dispersants, although now superseded by BP 1100X. The data for BP 1100 were provided to the authors by B. Gribbon in a private communication and con sequently the extent to which the measurements on Essohrene and BP 1100 were directly comparable was not dear. Certainly measurements were not made at the lame temperature, BP 1100 being examined at 17.519.5*C while Esaolvene was tested at U*C (Aeetlut oquaticm) or 9-11*C (Splv:erlum cor/-, m) In addition it is not known if h* . .anisms were collected from the tame area, it the tame time of year, and so on. Nevertheless,! - /-oncert of compering modern low toxicity diapenenta with older products such is Lssolvene or BP 1002 is interesting and Table 1 gives such data for three marine species. The attached determinations were conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture. Fisheries and Food Labor atories at Burnham-on-Crouch, using the method devel oped by Portmann and Connor (1941). Logan and Petkina conclude by drawing attention to possible hazards associated with the use of toxic dis- p~.ants in fresh water, view with which we certainly cone-. Indeed, we do not even recommend the use of BP ilCOX in fresh water situations since generally spr'kizg: (<i) Physical containment and removal may be feasible; (b) The volume of water available for dilution is much more limited than in a marine aituation; (c) There may be e risk of contaminating potable wate . Yours faithfully. L. R. Bbynon T. E. Lester BP R*.umh Centre, Sur*"iry-cn-Thamei. , TABLE I Toxicity tnts, thou- .. -he 41 H XjCu viliw--in ppm v/v OtSM'unBP toot BP 1100 BP llOWt* EmoIyco, Brawn Shrimp {Crmngon ereng^n) ( Cockle (Ceedlum id*'.) SI Armed bullhnd (Agon'll catophroctul) - >3300 >10,000 1000 3300 >10,000 1000-3300 >10,000 10 33-ICC - Re' -cnee: Beynon (1971); Beynon (1971); Portmann and Wlbon (1971); Portmann nnd Wilton (1971). V h LCu value. HONS 063531 What goes^e" in stuaries The Estuat,ne Environment ed'.U'd by R. 5. K. Barnes and J. Greei.. London: Applied science Publishers Ltd. (1972). xii + 133 pp. 13.50. This book of eight review papers comprises the pro ceedings of a symposium to mark the foundation of the Estuarine a.d Bra~Lish Water Sciences Association. The papers covet phystcil, chemical and biological aspects of the aubject and. although in no way integrated, they do provide an up to date introductiun into recent scientific rtsta.ch o*j estuaries, with particular emphasis on those in bntai'i. Regretfully the papers are of mixed quality, bu'. that of K. R. Dyer on sedimentation is comprehensive and p&nicutariy good. Other noteworthy contributions arc tl.ose of L. C. Beadle on matters physiological. K. L. Jeffreys on the inorganic nutrition of salt-mar>* ~lznts end P. R. Walne on estuarine fishevics. The estuary, par excellence, is a physically controlled 175 Tha Merino Pollution Bulletin is published monthly tnd Mts out to eovor e'l aspects of tho fight for tho ilfo of takes, astuariss, mm and ocaans. It Intiudoa nsws, oommsnt, rsvlaws and rastarch raporta not only on tho throat* of noxious substance* to marina Ufa but afao on tha manaoamant and productivity of tha marina environ ment in panaral. It publiaha* account* of now and proposed raaaaroh programmes as wall as tha .. of tttoaa in prograsa. eontrtbUu..; ba in tha form of short nolo* not exceeding $50 words or artiolM of 1500*2000 words and should be submitted to tha editor m dotrUe-spacetf typescript. They should ba given a short one-line title end the text should be broken by short eub-headings. All measurements must be given In metrio (8.1.) units. dffed by; Professor R. B. Clark. Department or Zoology, Tha Univarsity, Neweaatle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, England. Pubf/ahatf by; Maemfflan Journals Ltd, Little Eimx treat. London, WC2. Subscription* Macmillan Journals Ltd, Subscriptions Department, Bnmot Road, Basingstoke, Hants, Engtsnd. Advertl--ment Rates; Whole page. 30.00; Half page, 17.00. Copy date: 1st of previous month. All advertis ing enquiries to Potsr R. Kavanagh, Macmillan Journals LMh Little Essex Street, London WC2R 3LF (01-530 6033). ' Annuel eubtcrlfHlon: 5.00. USA and Canada (Air Freight) $15. cuWfonmcm tod those species that can tolerate its ex tremes can be considered to be opportunistic species-- which elsewhere may not be able to compete against the biological stress imposed by established iteno- physical species. Thus, it is perhaps significant that the list of species from the Ythan estuary, given on the paper by H. Milne and O. M. Dunnet. would not be greatly different from that of the estuary of one of Britain's sewers, the Tyne. That is not to say that the Ythan is completely unpolluted. It would be rewarding tu compare the growth, longevity and reproductive potential of estuaries of markedly different degrees of pollution. The estuaries are rich in nutrients and jt would also be rewarding, in more than one sense, if the commercial shellfish which form a large proportion, numerically, v,' opportunists (for example Mya. Mytllus) could be used again for human consumption, as they were in the time of the monks of Tynemouth Priory. The present interest in estuanc*. nf which this book and the newly forired Association are manifestations, is both timely in ecooomic terms and in fbai it brings to gether an array of experts from different dl rciplines. The book illustrates all too clearly the n-si for co-ordin ated multi-disciplinary approach. But 133 pages at 3.50 will not bring many to drink at a fountain, even if it were unpolluted quintessence. J. A. Allun Mr. R. S. Friar of Alcan (UK) UmitH has asked us to point out that the title `Gui'lemoU kitted by Fluoride?* and ti.s abstract of the article in last month's Marine Pollution b lUetin 3 UC). 149-152 suggest that fluorine poisonir* was responsible for the deaths of the birds, although this was not claimed in the body of the paper. Annual Subscription: Ur and elsewhere (Inc'udlng post): 6.00; USA and Canada: $15.no Published monthly by: Macmillan Journals Ltd., 4 Little Essex Street, London WC2R 3LF Please enter my name for one year's subscription beginning with the issue dated Name..... Address.. Signed................................... I enclose remittance value ..Zip/Postal code . Date............. MONS 085532