The aim of the study was to examine associations between persistent organic pollutants and vitamin A (retinol), retinyl palmitate and vitamin E status (alpha-tocopherol) in two species occupying different trophic positions in the Arctic food web. Levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), some selected organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) were analyzed in yolk sac of newly hatched chicks of Brünnich's guillemot (Uria lomvia) and common eider (Somateria mollissima) from Kongsfjorden, Svalbard (Norwegian Arctic) (79 degrees N). Morphological variables were measured, and levels of retinol, retinyl palmitate and alpha-tocopherol were analyzed in plasma and liver. Brünnich's guillemot had significantly higher levels of POPs than common eider, as expected from its higher trophic position. Morphological traits seemed to be negatively related to POPs in Brünnich's guillemots, but not in common eiders. In Brünnich's guillemot, negative relationships were found between some OCPs (hexachlorobenzene, oxychlordane, p,p'-DDE) and liver alpha-tocopherol levels. The negative relationships between these OCPs and liver alpha-tocopherol levels in Brünnich's guillemot hatchlings became less evident when the confounding effect of liver mass was corrected for. In common eider positive relationships were found between summed PCB (SigmaPCBs) and some OCPs (beta-hexachlorocyclohexane, oxychlordane) and liver alpha-tocopherol levels. Differences in relationships between POPs and vitamin status in the two species may be related to differences in POP exposure levels linked to their trophic position in the Arctic marine food web, or to intrinsic physiological differences between the species.