Nitro musk fragrances in biota from freshwater and marine environment

The nitro musks - musk xylene, musk ketone, musk ambrette, musk moskene, and musk tibetene - are intensively used as fragrances in cosmetics and detergents. The residue analysis (clean-up and GC/ECD analysis) of nitro musks in biota from freshwater and marine environment is described. In particular musk xylene and musk ketone were determined in a total of 145 samples of fish, mussels and shrimps originating from domestic and foreign aquacultures, some rivers in northern Germany, from Baltic Sea and North Sea coast. The residue levels ranged from <0.01 to 1.06 mg musk xylene/kg lipid and from <0.01 to 0.38 mg musk ketone/kg lipid, respectively. Our results seem to indicate the high bioconcentration potential and the ubiquitous distribution of this new group of contaminants in biota from freshwater and marine ecosystems.