Organochlorine Contamination in Pinnipeds

Hutchinson, J. D.; Simmonds, MP

doi:10.1007/978-1-4612-2656-7_4

Cited by 55 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Profiles of PCBs and DDTs in serum of harbour seals were similar to the patterns found in whole blood samples (Young et al, 1998) 2009a), suggesting that the contaminant's profiles are well conserved in this species, regardless of the tissue (Hutchinson and Simmonds, 1994;Vetter et al, 1996;Boon et al, 1997). For PBDEs, patterns in blood differed from patterns in blubber (Shaw et al, 2007;Weijs et al, 2009a) probably due to a selective retention of some congeners in other tissues than blood.…”

Section: Patternsmentioning

confidence: 68%

Concentrations of chlorinated and brominated contaminants and their metabolites in serum of harbour seals and harbour porpoises

Weijs

Das

Siebert³

et al. 2009

Environment International

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Harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) are top predators in the North Sea and consequently accumulate a variety of pollutants in their tissues. Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and their hydroxylated metabolites (HO-PCBs and HO-PBDEs) were measured in serum of wild harbour seals (n = 47) and captive harbour porpoises (n = 21). Both species exhibit long life spans and do not have extreme situations, such as complete fasting during periods of lactation, in their annual cycles. For PCBs, concentrations in adult males were slightly higher than in juveniles and lowest in juvenile females. For PBDEs, juveniles have higher levels than adult males and females, probably as a consequence of lactational transfer. However, differences between these age-gender groups were not statistical significant, indicating that individual variation was limited within each species, even without knowing the feeding status of the animals. Body condition, particularly emaciation, has a major influence on the levels of chlorinated and brominated contaminants in serum. Profiles of PCBs were CB 153 N CB 138 N CB 187 N CB 180 and CB 153 N CB 138 N CB 149 N CB 187 N CB 180 for harbour seals and porpoises respectively. For PBDEs, BDE 47 was the predominant congener followed by BDE 100 and 99 in both species. In harbour seals, concentrations of sum PCBs (median: 39,200 pg/ml) were more than 200 times higher than levels of sum PBDEs (median: 130 pg/ml) and almost 10 times higher than concentrations of sum HO-PCBs (4350 pg/ml). In harbour porpoises, concentrations of sum PCBs (median: 24,300 pg/ml) were about 20 times higher than concentrations of PBDEs (median: 1300 pg/ml). HO-PCBs were detected in only 4 harbour porpoises and this at very low concentrations. Naturally-produced MeOPBDEs were only found in harbour porpoises at concentrations ranging from 120 to 810 pg/ml. HO-PBDEs were not found in any species. In general, harbour seals accumulate less compounds and have mostly lower concentrations than harbour porpoises possibly as a result of a better developed metabolism.

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Section: Patternsmentioning

confidence: 68%

Concentrations of chlorinated and brominated contaminants and their metabolites in serum of harbour seals and harbour porpoises

Weijs

Das

Siebert³

et al. 2009

Environment International

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“…Due to their physical and chemical properties, these contaminants are capable of entering aquatic ecosystems and as a consequence, they can be a threat to organisms in every trophic level (Tanabe et al, 1994;Boon et al, 2002). Among them, PCBs are the most monitored contaminants in marine mammals (Duinker et al, 1989;Hutchinson and Simmonds, 1994;Vetter et al, 1996;Severinsen et al, 2000;Kajiwara et al, 2001). PCBs have been used for a variety of applications including dielectric fluids for transformers, plasticisers, or components in glue and paint.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inter-species differences for polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in marine top predators from the Southern North Sea: Part 1. Accumulation patterns in harbour seals and harbour porpoises

Weijs

Dirtu

Das

et al. 2009

Environmental Pollution

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Harbour porpoises and harbour seals present differences in the accumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c tHarbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) and harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) are two representative top predator species of the North Sea ecosystem. The median values of sum of 21 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and sum of 10 polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners were 23.1 mg/g lipid weight (lw) and 0.33 mg/g lw in blubber of harbour seals (n ¼ 28) and 12.4 mg/g lw and 0.76 mg/g lw in blubber of harbour porpoises (n ¼ 35), respectively. For both species, the highest PCB concentrations were observed in adult males indicating bioaccumulation. On the contrary, the highest PBDE concentrations were measured in juveniles, likely due to better-developed metabolic capacities with age in adults. A higher contribution of lower chlorinated and non-persistent congeners, such as CB 52, CB 95, CB 101, and CB 149, together with higher contributions of other PBDE congeners than BDE 47, indicated that harbour porpoises are unable to metabolize these compounds. Harbour seals showed a higher ability to metabolize PCBs and PBDEs.

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“…not determined due to analytical error. on the basis of the mean contaminant levels in the blubber (table 1), assuming that more than 90% of lipophilic persistent contaminants are stored in the blubber layer (Hutchinson and Simmonds, 1994). Mean blubber lipid mass per seal was estimated at 15 kg (approximately 25% of mean body weight).…”

Section: Estimation Of Cumulative Intakes and Body Burdens Of Organocmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This implies that this contaminant was either not mobilized along with the metabolized lipids, or left the blood soon after mobilization, e.g. back to the blubber (Hutchinson and Simmonds, 1994;Aguilar and Borrell, 1994). However, Boon et al (Boon et al 1994) suggested that lipids in blubber, blood and peripheral organs essentially represent a single compartment.…”

Section: Tt3mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Short term fasting does not aggravate immunosuppression in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) with high body burdens of organochlorines

et al. 1995

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Two groups of 11 harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) with different body burdens of organochlorines were subjected to an experimental 15-day fasting period, during which they lost an average 16.5% of their body weights. Blood levels of the most persistent organochlorines showed an approximate twofold increase, while levels of aryl hydrocarbon receptor-binding organochlorines remained largely unaffected. Few differences in immunological parameters were observed between the two dietary groups. Numbers of circulating lymphocytes dropped to about 65% of the initial values and NK cell activity showed a slight increase in both groups.Mitogen-and antigen-induced lymphoproliferative responses of the Baltic group of seals remained within normal ranges. These results suggest that relatively short-term fasting periods do not present an additional immunotoxicological risk to seals with high body burdens of organochlorines.

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Organochlorine Contamination in Pinnipeds

Cited by 55 publications

References 66 publications

Concentrations of chlorinated and brominated contaminants and their metabolites in serum of harbour seals and harbour porpoises

Concentrations of chlorinated and brominated contaminants and their metabolites in serum of harbour seals and harbour porpoises

Inter-species differences for polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in marine top predators from the Southern North Sea: Part 1. Accumulation patterns in harbour seals and harbour porpoises

Short term fasting does not aggravate immunosuppression in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) with high body burdens of organochlorines

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