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Samples of Calanus hyperboreus, a herbivorous copepod, were collected (n = 20) between April and July 1998, and water samples (n = 6) were collected in May 1998, in the Northwater Polynya (NOW) to examine persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in a high Arctic marine zooplankton. Lipid content (dry weight) doubled, water content (r2 = 0.88) and delta15N (r2 = 0.54) significantly decreased, and delta13C significantly increased (r2 = 0.30) in the C. hyperboreus over the collection period allowing an examination of the role of these variables in POP dynamics in this small pelagic zooplankton. The rank and concentrations of POP groups in C. hyperboreus over the entire sampling was sum of PCB (30.1 +/- 4.03 ng/g, dry weight) > sum of HCH (11.8 +/- 3.23) > sum of DDT (4.74 +/- 0.74), sum of CHLOR (4.44 +/- 1.0) > sum of CIBz (2.42 +/- 0.18), although these rankings varied considerably over the summer. The alpha- and gamma-HCH and lower chlorinated PCB congeners were the most common POPs in C. hyperboreus. The relationship between bioconcentration factor (BCF) and octanol-water partition coefficient (Kow) observed for the C. hyperboreus was linear and near 1:1 (slope = 0.72) for POPs with a log Kow between 3 and 6 but curvilinear when hydrophobic POPs (log Kow > 6) were included. Concentrations of sum of HCH. Sum of CHLOR and sum of CIBz increased over the sampling period, but no change in sum of PCB or sum of DDT was observed. After removing the effects of time, the variables lipid content, water content, delta15N and delta13C did not describe POP concentrations in C. hyperboreus. These results suggest that hydrophobic POP (log Kow = 3.86.0) concentrations in zooplankton are likely to reflect water concentrations and that POPs do not biomagnify in C. hyperboreus or likely in other small, herbivorous zooplankton.