DETECTION OF TRIS(CHLOROPHENYL) METHANE AND TRIS (4-CHLOROPHENYL) METHANOL IN RINGED SEAL (PHOCA-HISPIDA) FROM THE BALTIC SEA

This report concerns two relatively unstudied chlorinated aromatic substances of intermediate polarity which have been detected between ppb and ppm levels in ringed seal from the Baltic Sea. Both of them, tris(chlorophenyl)methane and tris(4-chlorophenyl)methanol, have only recently been detected in wildlife sampled throughout North America and elsewhere in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. No point sources have yet been identified to account for the global distribution of these two closely-related substances. The non-destructive extractive methods used for recovery of these compounds, as well as their chromatographic and mass spectrometric properties which will assist in their identification, are described. Initial results indicate that levels for these substances are comparable to those found in harbor seal from North America.