The use of imposex to assess tributyltin contamination in coastal waters and open seas

Imposex in muricid gastropods has been used to monitor tributyltin (TBT) contamination worldwide. Pollution was severe during the 1980s but regulations prohibiting the use of TBT-based antifoulants on vessels < 25 m in length have been highly effective in reducing TBT levels in coastal waters. Large vessels are still sources of TBT and major ports, especially those with dry docking and repair facilities, continue to be hot-spots of contamination. Measures of imposex suggest that severe pollution is normally localised to within a few kilometres of them. Mild imposex, possibly as a result of TBT pollution (although other causes have not been ruled out), has been described in whelks Buccinum undatum from offshore waters of the southern and central North Sea. However, the species is still abundant there and the occurrence of imposex does not seem to have affected its breeding performance. Imposex was mild or absent in populations of dogwhelks from open oceanic sites around the north Atlantic Ocean, suggesting that the oceans are free of contamination at biologically significant levels.