On chlorinated hydrocarbons in the Indian Ocean

Abstract

The data available on the distribution of organochlorine compounds such as DDT and its metabolites, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, isomers of HCH and the PCBs in the sediments, water, zooplankton, fish and seals from the Indian Ocean is reviewed. High concentrations are due to larger anthropogenic inputs from the East Coast of India. The metabolite DDE constituted the major fraction of t-DDT in the fishes from the Arabian Sea suggesting that this region is not subject to high inputs of DDT