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Different halogenated natural products (HNPs) have been reported to occur in marine wildlife, particularly from regions with comparably little contamination with anthropogenic pollutants. The North Sea and the Baltic Sea have been known as a marine site heavily polluted with organohalogen compounds, and especially with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). In this study we wished to determine the current abundance of HNPs in comparison with 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (PCB 153), i.e. the major PCB congener in marine biota. For this purpose, forty blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and oysters (Crassostrea gigas) from seven sites were analyzed on HNPs and PCB 153. Most of the samples contained HNPs in the form of polyhalogenated 1'-methyl-1,2'-bipyrroles (PMBPs including Q1) and the mixed halogenated compound MHC-1. In addition we determined several polyhalogenated 1,1'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyrroles (PDBPs), 2,3,4,5-tetrabromo-N-methylpyrrole and several novel homologs, as well as polybrominated N-methylindoles. The occurrence of these HNP groups were considerably different in the samples from different regions with varying sum concentrations up to 1930 μg/kg lipids in blue mussels from Heligoland (North Sea) and much lower concentrations in samples from the Baltic Sea (up to 13 μg/kg lipids). The concentrations of HNPs varied by two orders of magnitude, compared to a factor of 10 for PCB 153, suggesting that HNPs are more spatially (and perhaps temporally) variant than POPs. In the North Sea region Heligoland, HNPs were more abundant than PCB 153., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Synthetic musks (nitro and polycyclic musks) are a group of chemicals offering a wide range of important properties for environmental monitoring programs. They are produced as odorous chemicals and added to a wide variety of perfumes, toiletry products and other household products. As such, they are directly applied in cosmetic products or in washed textiles to the human body in considerable concentrations and accumulate owing to dermal resorption. In addition, synthetic musks also enter the environment via waste water treatment. Several polycyclic musks are chiral. By using chiral gas chromatographic methods, it is possible to determine the enantiomeric ratio and assess their bioavailability. Although an comprehensive quality assurance program must be followed during the analysis of synthetic musks in environmental samples, the determination of these compounds is not very demanding and can be carried out by a standard analytical laboratory specialising in trace analysis of organic pollutants. Owing to the pheromone-like behavior of some synthetic musks, the induction of receptors in olfactory systems should be investigated. For HHCB (1,3,4,6,7,8-hexahydro-4,6,6,7,8,8-hexamethylcyclopenta[g]-2-benzopyran, e.g., Galaxolide), three-dimensional structural similarities with androstenone (5 alpha-androst-16-en-3-one), a mammalian steroid pheromone, were found, which support the hypothesis of HHCB as an artificial pheromone. Owing to their environmental abundance, their relation to human activities and their potential for pheromone-like environmental behavior, synthetic musks are especially valuable as future indicator chemicals for environmental monitoring.

Chlorinated styrenes were identified in fish (bream) and sediment samples from the river Elbe. Four hexachlorostyrenes, four heptachlorostyrenes (concentrations in fish 1-10 ng/g wet weight) and octachlorostyrene (10-45 ng/g wet weight) were analysed. The gas chromatographic retention times and the electron impact (EI) mass spectra of the respective hepta- and hexachloro congeners found in the environment as well as those of some synthesised compounds are presented and discussed. The comparison of the chromatograms from the samples in the upper part of the river with those from the estuary revealed a possible difference in the pattern of chlorostyrenes.