Research Document - 2009/028
Contaminants in Canadian Arctic Bowhead whales
By G.A. Stern
Abstract
Organochlorine (PCBs and OC pesticides) and mercury concentrations have been measured in bowhead whale tissue from across the Canadian Arctic over a period of 1994 to 2003. Their tissue levels were then compared to those in beluga from similar locations and years. While organochlorine and mercury levels in the beluga tissues have now reached levels that would probably cause effects in many other species (AMAP, 2003) those in the bowhead tissues are significantly lower and almost certainly pose minimal risk to these animals and to the Inuit who consume these tissues as part of their traditional diets.
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