Introduction. Monitoring of organohalogens in the glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus) has been given high priority in Svalbard (Norwegian Arctic). Glaucous gulls are distributed widely in the Arctic and are an important avian scavenger-predator in the marine food web. Thus far among circumpolar arctic seabirds, glaucous gulls from Svalbard are reported to accumulate some of the highest concentrat...

ORGANOHALOGEN COMPOUNDS – Volume 66 (2004) 2494 Introduction In January 2003 the European Commission launched the project "Dioxins & PCBs: Environmental Levels and Human Exposure in Candidate Countries". Major objective was the collection of available information on dioxin and PCB related issues in Accession and Candidate Countries (further referred to as AC/CC) in order to develop a overview o...

Twelve species of deep-sea fishes collected in 2005 from the western North Pacific, off-Tohoku, Japan were analyzed for persistent organochlorine compounds (OCs) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs). PCBs and DDTs were the predominant contaminants, followed by CHLs > HCB ≈ HCHs ≈ HBCDs > PBDEs. Concentrations of DDTs and CHLs were lower than those reported in 1994–95 from the same area. PCBs,...

The molecular mechanism of general anesthesia is still a controversial issue. Direct effect by linking of anesthetics to proteins and indirect action on the lipid membrane properties are the two hypotheses in conflict. Atomistic simulations of different lipid membranes subjected to the effect of small volatile organohalogen compounds are used to explore plausible lipid-mediated mechanisms. Simu...

ORGANOHALOGEN COMPOUNDS – Volume 66 (2004) 1500 Introduction Toxaphene and mirex are the members of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) included in the International Treaty, the Stockholm Convention. POPs are characteristically transferred across borders and are accumulated in wildlife. Consequently, their global distribution and biological impacts are of great concern. However, there is very ...

Prenatal levels of organohalogen compounds (OHCs), including polybromodiphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), hexachlorocyclohexanes and DDTs, have been investigated in two different cohorts from the Spanish Mediterranean area, Valencia and Menorca, by analysis of cord blood serum. Comparison of the observed median concentrations to other cohorts shows low ...

BACKGROUND My research program in the 1970–1990 period was primarily focused on the chemistry, toxicology and mechanisms of action of highly persistent organochlorine environmental contaminants including the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dibenzofurans and dibenzop-dioxins (Figure 1). Since environmental samples and human residues of these organohalogen compounds (OCs) (or persistent organic...