Aquatic pollution resulting from extensive usage of organotin compounds has been of great concern due to their deleterious effects in nontarget organisms. However, organotin contamination in deep-sea ecosystems has been rarely studied. The presentwork attempted to determine butyltin and phenyltin compounds in deep-sea fish collected between 1000 and 1800 m depth in the NW Mediterranean. The concentration of tributyltin (TBT) and its degradation products, mono- (MBT) and dibutyltin (DBT), aswell astriphenyltin (TPT),and mono- anddiphenyltin (MPT, DPT) was determined in different tissues (liver, gills, digestive tube, and muscle) of several fish species. Total butyltin residues were up to 175 ng/g wet wt, and they were comparable to levels found in coastal fish collected along the Catalan coast. In contrast, deep-sea fish contained much higher levels of phenyltins (up to 1700 ng/g wet wt), and particularly TPT (up to 1430 ng/g wet wt), than previously reported concentrations in shallow-water organisms. The obtained results confirm the long-range transport of organotin compounds to the deep-sea environment, and the subsequent exposure of fish inhabiting nonpoint source areas. The use of TPT in agriculture or as an antifouling agent, its transport to the deep-sea environment associated to particulate matter, and its nonbiodegradable nature in the food chain may account for the high residue levels detected in deep-sea organisms.
Tributyltin (TBT) and its degradation products, mono-(MBT) and dibutyltin (DBT) as well as triphenyltin (TPT) were determined inmolluscs and fish collected along the Catalan coast (Western Mediterranean). Marine molluscs (mussels, clams and snails) were sampled from three harborswith different characteristics (small vs. large boats). Two fishspecies were studied (a) the grey mullet Liza aurata sampled inBarcelona harbor and (b) the red mullet Mullus barbatus sampled alongthe coast; different tissues (muscle, liver, gills and digestive tube) wereanalysed separately. The composition of butyltin compounds was differentaccording to the organism and sampling point, but in general elevatedconcentrations of TBT were noticed in molluscs. The highest organotin residuelevels (5.4 microg/g d.w. as Sn) were detected in mussels from Masnou, arecreational marina, followed by those collected in Barcelona harbor (1.2microg/g d.w. as Sn). In contrast, no organotin compounds were detected in fishmuscle and very low levels in the other organs, being TPT the major organotinin red mullet liver.
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