Organochlorine compound accumulation in delphinids from Rio de Janeiro State, southeastern Brazilian coast.

The present study investigated organochlorine compound levels (PCBs, DDTs and HCB) in blubber samples of six delphinid species from Rio de Janeiro State, southeastern Brazilian coast. The species analyzed inhabit the continental shelf (one killer whale, one false killer whale, two bottlenose dolphins, three rough-toothed dolphins, and four long-beaked common dolphins) and open ocean (four Fraser's dolphins). PCBs represented the greatest proportion of the sum of all measured organochlorines (from 0.60 to 257.2 µg g(-1) lw), followed by DDTs (from 0.15 to 125.6 µg g(-1) lw), and, at last, HCB (from