Full text
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| Author(s): |
Caio Vinicius Zecchin Cipro
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | São Paulo. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto Oceanográfico (IO/DIDC) |
| Defense date: | 2011-11-21 |
| Examining board members: |
Rosalinda Carmela Montone;
Thais Navajas Corbisier;
Kleber Campos Miranda Filho;
Rolf Roland Weber
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| Advisor: | Rosalinda Carmela Montone |
| Abstract | |
Despite the small antropic direct influence on its territory, Antarctica cannot be considered out of pollutants\' reach. The present study evaluated the distribution and transfer of organic pollutants (PCBs, organochlorine pesticides and PBDEs) in both abiotic (snow and melting water) and biotic (lichens, mosses, invertebrates, fishes, bird eggs and bird and pinnipeds\' tissues, for which was also applied carbon-13 and nitrogen-15 stable isotopes analyses) compartments of the ecosystem from Admiralty Bay. Abiotic compartments showed concentrations between 1,4 and 156 pg L-1, only for organochlorine groups, with considerable intraseasonal variation and compatibility with lower trophic levels and vegetation samples, which in turn reflected the importance of secondary pollutants sources. In animal samples, grosso modo, the prevailing compounds were (in ng g-1 wet weight) PCBs (6,82-1821), HCB (0,060-136) and DDTs, (0,410-524), levels from two to three orders of magnitude superior to the ones found in vegetations. PBDEs occurred, in a general way, in levels from one to two orders of magnitude lower than the organochlorines. Stable isotope analyses proved useful as an indicator tool for trophic level and consumed organic matter, correlating itself in a qualitative and quantitative way with the organic pollutants by indication of factors as nutritional strees and variation in foraging areas and/or diet. As an alternative, a new biomagnifications indicator based on PCBs molecular weight was proposed, showing results statistically superior to the ?15N in the majority of the cases. (AU) | |