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Bjørn Munro Jenssen,¹ Eugen G. Sørmo,¹ Kine Bæk,² Jenny Bytingsvik,¹ Hege Gaustad,¹ Anders Ruus,³ and Janneche Utne Skaare^2,4

¹Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway; ²Department of Feed and Food Hygiene, National Veterinary Institute, Oslo, Norway; ³Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Oslo, Norway; ⁴Department of Food Safety and Infection Biology, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, Oslo, Norway

Abstract
Background: Concentrations of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are reported to increase in marine ecosystems.

Objectives: Characterize exposure to BFRs in animals from different trophic levels in North-East Atlantic coastal marine ecosystems along a latitudinal gradient from southern Norway to Spitsbergen, Svalbard, in the Arctic. Calanoid species were collected from the Oslofjord (59°N) , Froan (64°N) , and Spitsbergen (> 78°N) ; Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) from the Oslofjord and Froan ; polar cod (Boreogadus saida) from Bear Island (74°N) and Spitsbergen ; harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) from the Oslofjord, Froan, and Spitsbergen ; and ringed seal (Phoca vitulina) from Spitsbergen. Eggs of common tern (Sterna hirundo) were collected from the Oslofjord, and eggs of arctic terns (Sterna paradisaea) from Froan and Spitsbergen.

Results: Levels of polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) generally decreased as a function of increasing latitude, reflecting distance from release sources. The clear latitudinal decrease in levels of BFRs was not pronounced in the two tern species, most likely because they are exposed during migration. The decabrominated compound BDE-209 was detected in animals from all three ecosystems, and the highest levels were found in arctic tern eggs from Spitsbergen. HBCD was found in animals from all trophic levels, except for in calanoids at Froan and Spitsbergen.

Conclusions: Even though the levels of PBDEs and HBCD are generally low in North-East Atlantic coastal marine ecosystems, there are concerns about the relatively high presence of BDE-209 and HBCD.

Key words: Arctic, biomagnification, HBCD, hexabromocyclododecane, Norway, PBDE, polar bear, Ursus maritimus, polybrominated diphenylethers, seals. Environ Health Perspect 115(suppl 1) :35–41 (2007) . doi:10.1289/ehp.9355 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 8 June 2007]

Address correspondence to B.M. Jenssen, Department of Biology, Høgskoleringen 5, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway. Telephone: 47-7359-6267. Fax: 47-7359-1309. E-mail: Bjorn.Munro.Jenssen@bio.ntnu.no

This work was funded by the FIRE [Flame retardant Integrated Risk assessment for Endocrine disruption (http://www.rivm.nl/fire) ] project (contract QLT4-CT-2002-00596) under the European Commission 5th Framework Programme. The contents herein do not represent the opinion of the European Community.

The authors declare they have no competing financial interests.

Received 22 May 2006 ; accepted 23 October 2006.