RESULTS 



Metals in Liver and Kidney 



Liver and kidney samples of bottlenose dolphins were analyzed for 15 

 metals and the results arc reported on a wet weight basis with the percent dry 

 weight included for each sample (Table 2, Appendix Al, A2). The range of 

 concentrations of metals among individual animals was quite wide, often varying 

 over two orders of magnitude in both liver samples (e.g. mercury, 0.18-117 

 p.g/g; selenium, 0.70-34.9 fig/g) and kidney samples (e.g. mercury, 0.10-8.70 

 p.g/g; selenium, 0.77-2.01 M-g/g). Generally, the concentratioiis of mercury in 

 liver samples were approximately 10 times higher than in kidney samples (Rgurc 

 2, Table 2) with the concentrations of mercury in the two tissue types being 

 significantly correlated (r = 0.80, P < 0.0001). As with mercury, the 

 concentrations of selenium in dolphin livers were much higher than in respeaive 

 kidney tissue — by a factor of five (Hgure 2, Table 2), with no definite 

 correlation between the two types of tissue (r = 0.58. P ^ 0.(X)1). 



There was no significant correlation between the concentrations of 

 mercury and age in these dolphins. For example, the two females with the 

 highest levels of mercury in their livers were PO 095 (5-8 years) and GA 311 



(27 years). 



Chlorinated Hydrocarbons in Blubber and Liver 



The results of the analyses for CHs (Table 3) of individual samples of 

 blubber (Table 4) and liver (Table 5) tissues are reported on a wet weight basis; 

 the percent dry weight and percent lipid weight are also included for each sample 

 with a summary in Table 2. As with the metals, there was a large variability 

 (wide range) of concentrations of total CHs in blubber (3.0-190 p.g/g) and liver 

 (0.5-58 ^ig/g) of individual animals (Figure 3). Concentrations of the analytes 

 were approximately 10 times higher in blubber than in the corresponding liver 

 sample. However, calculating PCB concentrations on a lipid weight basis resulted 

 in similar concentrations of PCBs in the blubber and liver of each animal (Table 

 6). The concentrations of 17 of the 209 PCB congeners are reported in Appendix 

 A3. 



64 



