Butyltin contamination in marine mammals from North Pacific and Asian coastal waters

Hepatic butyltin concentrations were determined in 63 cetaceans belonging to 14 species and four pinnipeds belonging to two species collected from North Pacific and Asian coastal waters. Butyltin compounds (BTs) including tributyltin (TBT), dibutyltin (DBT), and monobutyltin (MET) were detected in almost all the liver samples suggestive of its worldwide distribution. The elevated residues detected in coastal species and low concentrations found in off-shore species indicate a high degree of butyltin contamination in coastal waters than in the open sea. Mammals inhabiting waters of developed nations were found to contain higher BT concentrations compared with those collected from the waters proximal to developing countries. These observations strongly suggest serious BT contamination in the waters of developed countries than in developing nations at present. Among the samples collected off Japanese coastal waters, lower BT concentrations were found in pinnipeds compared with the cetaceans, suggestive of a possible difference in degradation capacities and excretory moulting between these two groups of animals. The estimated concentration ratio of BT in the liver of killer whale fetus to its pregnant mother was relatively low (0.015), indicative that transplacental transfer of BTs from the mother to her fetus is a deal less. Among the BT breakdown products, DBT was predominant in most of the liver samples analyzed, followed by TBT and MBT.