Chlorinated hydrocarbons in diving ducks wintering in Gdańsk Bay, Baltic Sea

The levels of HCB, alpha-BHC, gamma-BHC, DDT (plus analogues), and PCB were determined in adipose fat from seven species of diving ducks at their winter quarters in the southern Baltic. PCB, epsilon DDT and HCB were detected in all samples. PCB's were highest followed by epsilon DDT and HCB. Residues of gamma-BHC were detected in only four of 129 samples examined, but, for all samples from the long-tailed duck, only levels of alpha-BHC were positive. Differences between HCB, epsilon DDT and PCB residue levels between males and females of the scaup-duck were statistically insignificant (P less than 0.01).