PAH data in tissues of subsistence harvested marine mammal - Determination of PAH baseline values in tissues from subsistence-harvested marine mammals on the North Slope

Over the past 15 years, high quality marine mammal tissue and fluid samples collected by subsistence hunters in the North Slope region of Alaska have been archived by the North Slope Borough (NSB). Staff from both the NSB’s Department of Wildlife Management and the NWFSC have selected a subset of the samples for analyses of petroleum-related compounds to establish baseline concentrations in top-level predators in the region. The Environmental Chemistry Program will analyze tissue and stomach content samples of various species of marine mammals harvested in the North Slope region of Alaska for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) including alkylated PAH homologs using gas chromatography / mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The NWFSC will also analyze bile and urine samples collected from a subset of these animals for PAH metabolites using either high-performance liquid chromatography/fluorescence or liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The findings of this study will be drafted for a peer-reviewed journal publication.
Measurements of parent and alkylated PAHs in various matrices of marine mammals.