Toxaphene and other persistent organochlorine pesticides in three species of albatrosses from the north and south Pacific Ocean.

Toxaphene and other persistent organochlorine (OC) pesticides (chlordane-related compounds [sigmaCHL], DDT-related compounds [sigmaDDT], hexachlorocyclohexanes [sigmaHCH], tris(p-chloro-phenyl)methane, hexachlorobenzene, octachlorostyrene, dieldrin) were determined in fat of Laysan albatross (Diomedea immutabilis) and in fat and eggs of blackfooted albatross (Diomedea nigripes) from the central north Pacific Ocean. The HCH isomers and chlordane- and DDT-related compounds were also determined in eggs of northern royal albatross (Diomedea sanfordi) collected in New Zealand. Toxaphene was detected in fat samples at mean +/- standard deviation (SD) levels ranging from 243 +/- 61 ng/g wet weight in Laysan albatross to 1,020 +/- 237 ng/g wet weight in blackfooted albatross.