Butyltin compounds in sediment and fish from the Polish Coast of the Baltic Sea

Concentrations of mono- (MBT), di- (DBT), and tri-(TBT) butyltin compounds were measured in eggs, liver, and muscle of nine species of fish from four regions of the Baltic Sea - the Firth of Vistula, the Gulf of Gdańsk, Puck Bay, and the mouth of the Vistula River. The overall concentration ranges among all the fish sampled from the four sites were: < 7 to 79 ng/g for MBT, 6 to 1100 ng/g for DBT, 7 to 3600 ng/g for TBT, and 16 to 4800 ng/g for total BTs, on a wet wt basis. The highest concentration of total BTs was found in herring liver from the Firth of Vistula (4800 ng/g, wet wt) and in roach muscle from Puck Bay (3300 ng/g, wet wt), while the least concentration was found in burbot eggs and liver from the Vistula River (39 and 32 ng/g, wet wt, respectively). TBT was the major form of BTs present in most samples analyzed. Sediment samples collected from shipyards in the Gulf of Gdańsk contained butyltin concentrations ranging from 1.2 to 46 μg/g (dry wt) for MBT, 2.0 to 42 μg/g for DBT, and 2.6 to 40 μg/g for TBT. As with the fish, the majority of the BTs in sediment were present as TBT, which suggested recent exposure of the aquatic environment of the region to TBT.     

Butyltin compounds and organochlorine residues in green mussel (Perna viridis L.) from India

Butyltin compounds (BTs) and organochlorine residues (OCs) were determined in green mussel (Perna viridis L.) collected along the coastal waters of India in 1994 and 1995 to elucidate their contamination levels and distribution. BTs were detected in all of the mussel samples, ranging from 2 to 378 ng/g wet wt, which indicated that BTs are widely distributed, with elevated concentrations in intense boating areas. BTs concentrations in green mussels were lower than those reported for developed nations as well as developing countries such as Thailand. Concentrations of OCs were much lower than those of BTs. Among OCs examined, DDTs were found to be greatest, followed by HCHs, PCBs, CHLs and HCB. Considering the fact that the usage of tributyltin (TBT), DDTs and HCHs are not controlled in India, their contamination in the aquatic environment may increase unless regulatory measures are imposed. To our knowledge, this is a first report on the detection of BTs in Indian mussels.     

Transport of butyltins at the water‐air interface and the adsorptive behavior of tributyltin in the surface microlayer

The transfer dynamics and enrichment phenomena of monobutyltin chloride(MBT), dibutyltin chloride(DBT) and tributyltin chloride(TBT) at the water‐surface microlayer (SM) interface were studied. The transport processes of the three compounds at the interface are very fast in the estuarine environment. The mass transfer coefficients are 1.54 m/h for MBT, 2.16 m/h for DBT, 1.56 m/h for TBT. The effect of various factors, including pH, salinity, suspended particulate and temperature, on the adsorptive behavior of TBT in the water's surface microlayer was also studied.