Assessment of organotin (butyltin species) contamination in marine biota from the Eastern Aegean Sea, Turkey.

The marine environment continues to be adversely affected by tributyltin (TBT) release from maritime traffic. Therefore the concentrations of TBT, dibutyltin (DBT) and monobutyltin (MBT) were measured in barnacles, mussels and fish along the Eastern Aegean coastline. The average concentrations of TBT ng Sn g⁻¹ were found to be 235 in fish, 116 in mussels and 635 in barnacles. The highest concentrations of TBT, DBT and MBT were observed in the barnacles which had been sampled in marinas and harbors. All mussels sampled showed values of TBT+DBT, which were below the "tolerable average residue level (TARL)" as currently accepted. This indicates a lack of risk to the consumer. However, 7 out of the 15 fish sampled displayed TBT+DBT levels above the TARL, which indicates that a fish consumer group may be at risk. Barnacles have high potential as biomonitors for the presence of organotin in the Aegean Sea.