OCEAN 320 Chapter Notes - Chapter Unit 1C: Amphipoda, Crustacean, Suruga Bay
Unit 1C: Chemical Pollution in the Ocean
Chemicals in the Deep Sea
• high concentrations of pollutants like PCBs and PBDEs in deep sea ecosystems
• research team (University of Newcastle) sampled levels of pollutants in the fatty tissue of
amphipods (type of crustacean) from deep in Pacific
o found polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers
(PBDEs) (commonly used as electrical insulators and flame retardants in the 70’s)
o total global production of these chemicals is estimated 1.3 million tonnes from
time they began using and stopped using them
o resistant to natural breakdown, so they just build up in the environment
• in food chain
o crabs in Marianas trench levels of PCB contamination were 50 times those of
crabs in Liaohe River in China (most polluted river on earth); levels of
contamination similar to that found in Suruga Bay (most polluted area in pacific
northwest)
o suggested that these chemicals made their way to the depths through
contaminated plastic debris and in the bodies of dead animals that sunk (their food
source)
o chemicals accumulate through the food chain so that when they reach the deep
ocean, concentrations are many times higher than in surface waters
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