Polychlorinated Biphenyls in the Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra)

The Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra L.) has been declining in large parts of Western and Central Europe over the past decades (Foster-Turley et al. 1990; Macdonald and Mason 1994). Part of this decline may have resulted from the increased contamination of aquatic systems, which has occurred in the same period. Of special concern are compounds that are both hydrophobic and persistent because such compounds tend to accumulate in the body fat of organisms in aquatic systems. The otter, being a piscivorous top predator, may accumulate large amounts of these substances.