CONCENTRATIONS OF ORGANOCHLORINE COMPOUNDS IN THE HERMIT-CRAB PAGURUS-BERNHARDUS FROM THE GERMAN BIGHT, DECEMBER 1988 - MAY 1989

The contamination of Pagurus bernhardus with PCB (as the sum of concentrations of 36 individual components), p,p′-DDE, HCB, α-HCH and Lindane (γ-HCH) was determined in samples collected between December 1988 and May 1989 in the German Bight. Consistent values of congener composition were shown to exist in the abdomens when individual congener levels were expressed as percentages of total composition. This value does not appear to be influenced by total concentration, lipid content of the tissue or the sampling position in the German Bight. A comparison of PCB patterns in the hermit crab and zooplankton shows that P. bernhardus accumulated penta- to decachlorobiphenyls which lack vicinal H atoms in meta-para positions. The body burdens of cyclic organochlorines changes with time, but this change was different for different compounds at the same sampling station, and also at different sampling stations for the same compound. These changes were not correlated to natural seasonal events or changing lipid content of the tissues, but were strongly influenced by their sources. The concentrations of aromatic compounds slightly reflected time integrating characteristics, whereas the α/γ-HCH ratio was useful in identifying sudden changes in the influence of rivers as well as water masses coming from the central North Sea. © 1990.