PBDEs in the blubber of marine mammals from coastal areas of São Paulo, Brazil, southwestern Atlantic.

Limited information is available in the literature on the levels of brominated flame retardants in the southern hemisphere. This study presents concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the blubber of small cetaceans from the coast of São Paulo (Brazil), southwestern Atlantic. PBDE levels were highest in Stenella frontalis (770 ng g(-1) lipid) followed by Steno bredanensis (475 ng g(-1) lipid), Sotalia guianensis (65.6 ng g(-1) lipid), Tursiopstruncatus (64.2 ng g(-1) lipid) and Pontoporia blainvillei (60.3 ng g(-1) lipid). In general, continental shelf individuals exhibited higher contamination than inshore animals. This might be related to larger prey items consumed by continental shelf dolphins. The pattern of contamination indicates that Penta-BDE commercial mixtures are a major source of PBDEs to top predators in the southwestern Atlantic. Congeners found in Octa-BDE formulations were not detected in the investigated animals.