Objectives were to measure a suite of organochlorine contaminants in tissues of Arctic fox collected on the Pribilof Islands for comparison to similar measurements in Arctic fox from other locations for the AMAP assessment.
Body fat samples taken from the carcasses of Arctic foxes found dead or dying. Arctic fox (length, weight, age estimate, sex, fat sample)
St. Paul Island, Pribilof Islands (57.1667° N, 170.2500° W) Arctic fox (length, weight, age estimate, sex, fat sample)
Samples were stored frozen (-20 degrees C) until subsampled. Samples of fat were removed from the rump with cleaned scalpel blades and transferred to clean glass containers and returned to the freezer until analyis. Fat samples were analyzed for OCs and percent lipid following standard methods and quality assurance protocols (Krahn et al., 1988; Sloan et al., 1993). Briefly, samples of thawed tissue (1-3g ) were extracted, following addition of internal standards, by maceration with sodium sulfate and methylene chloride. The methylene chloride extract was then filtered through a column of silica gel and alumina and concentrated for further cleanup. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a size-exclusion column was used to separate lipids and other biogenic material from a fraction containing the OCs. The OC fraction was analyzed by capillary column gas chromatography (GC) equipped with an electron capture detector (ECD). Identification of individual OCs in selected samples was confirmed using GC-mass spectrometry. References: Krahn, M.M., Moore, L.K., Bogar, R.G., Wigren, C.A., Chan, S.-L. and Brown, D.W. 1988. High-performance liquid chromatographic method for isolating organic contaminants from tissue and sediment extracts. J. Chromatogr. 437:161-75. Sloan, C.A., Adams, N.G., Pearce, R.W., Brown, D.W. and Chan, S.-L. 1993. Northwest Fisheries Science Center Organic Analytical Procedures. pp. 53-96. In: (G.G. Lauenstein and A.Y. Cantillo, ed.) Sampling and analytical methods of the National Status and Trends Program: National Benthic Surveillance and Mussel Watch Projects 1984-1992. NOAA Coastal Monitoring and Bioeffects Assessment Division, Office of Ocean Resources Conservation and Assessment, National Ocean Service, Silver Spring, Maryland, 182pp.
Quality assurance procedures included analyses of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standard reference materials (NIST SRM 1945), a NIST whale blubber control material, certified calibration standards, method blanks, solvent blanks and replicate samples and met laboratory criteria. In addition, our laboratory participates in NIST and other Quality Assurance Intercomparison Exercises each year.
Paula White, University of California Berkeley.
This work has been done in collaboration with Paula White, University of California Berkeley.
Additional samples may be available in the summer of 2001 and will be analyzed when received.