Accumulation of organotin compounds in tissues and organs of dolphins from the coasts of Thailand.

The concentration of organotin (OT) in seven species of dolphin (bottlenose dolphin, finless porpoise, Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphin, long-beaked common dolphin, Pantropical spotted dolphin, spinner dolphin, and striped dolphin), which were stranded on the coasts of Thailand, were measured. Butyltin (BT) and phenyltin (PT) compounds in tissues and organs of the dolphins were in the range of 16-1,152 microg kg(-1) and <1-62 microg kg(-1), respectively. The highest concentration of tributyltin (TBT) was generally observed in the liver. Because of the lower concentration of TPT, a trend in body distribution was not observed. Monobutyltin (MBT) among all the BTs was the dominant species in tissues and most organs except the liver. However, dibutyltin (DBT) was predominant in the liver. Monophenyltin (MPT) was not detected in all dolphins in the study. The higher concentration of BTs was observed with the increase in body length of dolphins. On the other hand, no significant difference in the concentration of OTs between genders was observed. The concentrations of OTs in tissues and organs were compared among dolphin, whales, and dugongs stranded on the coasts of Thailand. The concentrations of BTs were high and in the order of whales > dugongs > dolphins and the concentrations of PTs in whales were higher than those in dolphins and dugongs.