An assessment of contaminant concentrations in toothed whale species of the NW Iberian Peninsula: Part I. Persistent organic pollutants

Paula Mendez-Fernandez; Lynda Webster; Tiphaine Chouvelon; Paco Bustamante; Marisa Ferreira; Angel F. Gonzalez; Alfredo Lopez; Colin F. Moffat; Graham J. Pierce; Fiona L. Read; Marie Russell; Maria B. Santos; Jerome Spitz; Jose V. Vingada; Florence Caurant

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.02.045

An assessment of contaminant concentrations in toothed whale species of the NW Iberian Peninsula: Part I. Persistent organic pollutants

Paula Mendez-Fernandez^*, Lynda Webster, Tiphaine Chouvelon, Paco Bustamante, Marisa Ferreira, Angel F. Gonzalez, Alfredo Lopez, Colin F. Moffat, Graham J. Pierce, Fiona L. Read, Marie Russell, Maria B. Santos, Jerome Spitz, Jose V. Vingada, Florence Caurant

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Concentrations and patterns of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the blubber of the five most common toothed whales off the Northwest Iberian Peninsula (NWIP), specifically common dolphin, long-finned pilot whale, harbour porpoise, striped dolphin and bottlenose dolphin, were investigated. The study revealed that differences in PCB and PBDE concentrations among the species are highly dependent on age and sex but also on ecological factors such as trophic level, prey type and habitat. Of the five species studied, bottlenose dolphin and harbour porpoise showed the greatest concentrations of PCBs. Both species exceed the toxic threshold of 17 mu g g(-1) lipid weight (PCB Aroclor equivalent) for health effects on marine mammals, for 100% and 75% of the individuals tested, respectively. Overall, the PCB and PBDE levels observed in the NWIP toothed whales were of the same order of magnitude or lower than those reported by previous studies in areas of the NE Atlantic. However, they are often higher than those for toothed whales from the southern Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	196-205
Number of pages	10
Journal	Science of the Total Environment
Volume	484
Early online date	13 Apr 2014
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.02.045
Publication status	Published - 15 Jun 2014

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of volunteers from the Galician (CEMMA) and Portuguese (SPVS) stranding networks. They also thank E. Dalgarno, L. Phillips, I. Hussy and J. A. Scurfield for their help with the organochlorine analysis. We would like to thank R. Gallois and C. Trichet, for their participation in the determination of total lipid content. This work was supported through the PhD grant of PMF from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology of the Government of Portugal (SFRH/BD/36766/2007). GJP acknowledges support from the EU under the ANIMATE project (MEXC-CT-2006-042337). MBS was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Programa Nacional de Movilidad de Recursos Humanos de Investigación (PR-2010-0518) and the LOTOFPEL project (Plan Nacional de I + D + I, CTM 2010–16053). Two anonymous reviewers and the associate editor F. Riget are thanked for helpful suggestions and comments on an earlier form of this manuscript.

Keywords

PCBs
PBDEs
Bioaccumulation
Patterns
Toothed whales
Northwest Iberian Peninsula
Bottle-nosed dolphins
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers
Porpoises phocoena-phocoena
Polychlorinated-Biphenyls PCBS
Female Coomon Dolphins
Western-European Seas
Harbor porpoises
Organochlorine residues
Tursiops-Truncatus
Marine mammals

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Accepted author manuscript, 1.34 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

Mendez-Fernandez, P., Webster, L., Chouvelon, T., Bustamante, P., Ferreira, M., Gonzalez, A. F., Lopez, A., Moffat, C. F., Pierce, G. J., Read, F. L., Russell, M., Santos, M. B., Spitz, J., Vingada, J. V., & Caurant, F. (2014). An assessment of contaminant concentrations in toothed whale species of the NW Iberian Peninsula: Part I. Persistent organic pollutants. Science of the Total Environment, 484, 196-205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.02.045

Mendez-Fernandez, P, Webster, L, Chouvelon, T, Bustamante, P, Ferreira, M, Gonzalez, AF, Lopez, A, Moffat, CF, Pierce, GJ, Read, FL, Russell, M, Santos, MB, Spitz, J, Vingada, JV & Caurant, F 2014, 'An assessment of contaminant concentrations in toothed whale species of the NW Iberian Peninsula: Part I. Persistent organic pollutants', Science of the Total Environment, vol. 484, pp. 196-205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.02.045

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title = "An assessment of contaminant concentrations in toothed whale species of the NW Iberian Peninsula: Part I. Persistent organic pollutants",

abstract = "Concentrations and patterns of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the blubber of the five most common toothed whales off the Northwest Iberian Peninsula (NWIP), specifically common dolphin, long-finned pilot whale, harbour porpoise, striped dolphin and bottlenose dolphin, were investigated. The study revealed that differences in PCB and PBDE concentrations among the species are highly dependent on age and sex but also on ecological factors such as trophic level, prey type and habitat. Of the five species studied, bottlenose dolphin and harbour porpoise showed the greatest concentrations of PCBs. Both species exceed the toxic threshold of 17 mu g g(-1) lipid weight (PCB Aroclor equivalent) for health effects on marine mammals, for 100% and 75% of the individuals tested, respectively. Overall, the PCB and PBDE levels observed in the NWIP toothed whales were of the same order of magnitude or lower than those reported by previous studies in areas of the NE Atlantic. However, they are often higher than those for toothed whales from the southern Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.",

keywords = "PCBs, PBDEs, Bioaccumulation, Patterns, Toothed whales, Northwest Iberian Peninsula, Bottle-nosed dolphins, Polybrominated diphenyl ethers, Porpoises phocoena-phocoena, Polychlorinated-Biphenyls PCBS, Female Coomon Dolphins, Western-European Seas, Harbor porpoises, Organochlorine residues, Tursiops-Truncatus, Marine mammals",

author = "Paula Mendez-Fernandez and Lynda Webster and Tiphaine Chouvelon and Paco Bustamante and Marisa Ferreira and Gonzalez, {Angel F.} and Alfredo Lopez and Moffat, {Colin F.} and Pierce, {Graham J.} and Read, {Fiona L.} and Marie Russell and Santos, {Maria B.} and Jerome Spitz and Vingada, {Jose V.} and Florence Caurant",

note = "Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of volunteers from the Galician (CEMMA) and Portuguese (SPVS) stranding networks. They also thank E. Dalgarno, L. Phillips, I. Hussy and J. A. Scurfield for their help with the organochlorine analysis. We would like to thank R. Gallois and C. Trichet, for their participation in the determination of total lipid content. This work was supported through the PhD grant of PMF from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology of the Government of Portugal (SFRH/BD/36766/2007). GJP acknowledges support from the EU under the ANIMATE project (MEXC-CT-2006-042337). MBS was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Programa Nacional de Movilidad de Recursos Humanos de Investigaci{\'o}n (PR-2010-0518) and the LOTOFPEL project (Plan Nacional de I + D + I, CTM 2010–16053). Two anonymous reviewers and the associate editor F. Riget are thanked for helpful suggestions and comments on an earlier form of this manuscript.",

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doi = "10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.02.045",

language = "English",

volume = "484",

pages = "196--205",

journal = "Science of the Total Environment",

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T1 - An assessment of contaminant concentrations in toothed whale species of the NW Iberian Peninsula

T2 - Part I. Persistent organic pollutants

AU - Mendez-Fernandez, Paula

AU - Webster, Lynda

AU - Chouvelon, Tiphaine

AU - Bustamante, Paco

AU - Ferreira, Marisa

AU - Gonzalez, Angel F.

AU - Lopez, Alfredo

AU - Moffat, Colin F.

AU - Pierce, Graham J.

AU - Read, Fiona L.

AU - Russell, Marie

AU - Santos, Maria B.

AU - Spitz, Jerome

AU - Vingada, Jose V.

AU - Caurant, Florence

N1 - Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of volunteers from the Galician (CEMMA) and Portuguese (SPVS) stranding networks. They also thank E. Dalgarno, L. Phillips, I. Hussy and J. A. Scurfield for their help with the organochlorine analysis. We would like to thank R. Gallois and C. Trichet, for their participation in the determination of total lipid content. This work was supported through the PhD grant of PMF from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology of the Government of Portugal (SFRH/BD/36766/2007). GJP acknowledges support from the EU under the ANIMATE project (MEXC-CT-2006-042337). MBS was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Programa Nacional de Movilidad de Recursos Humanos de Investigación (PR-2010-0518) and the LOTOFPEL project (Plan Nacional de I + D + I, CTM 2010–16053). Two anonymous reviewers and the associate editor F. Riget are thanked for helpful suggestions and comments on an earlier form of this manuscript.

PY - 2014/6/15

Y1 - 2014/6/15

N2 - Concentrations and patterns of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the blubber of the five most common toothed whales off the Northwest Iberian Peninsula (NWIP), specifically common dolphin, long-finned pilot whale, harbour porpoise, striped dolphin and bottlenose dolphin, were investigated. The study revealed that differences in PCB and PBDE concentrations among the species are highly dependent on age and sex but also on ecological factors such as trophic level, prey type and habitat. Of the five species studied, bottlenose dolphin and harbour porpoise showed the greatest concentrations of PCBs. Both species exceed the toxic threshold of 17 mu g g(-1) lipid weight (PCB Aroclor equivalent) for health effects on marine mammals, for 100% and 75% of the individuals tested, respectively. Overall, the PCB and PBDE levels observed in the NWIP toothed whales were of the same order of magnitude or lower than those reported by previous studies in areas of the NE Atlantic. However, they are often higher than those for toothed whales from the southern Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

AB - Concentrations and patterns of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the blubber of the five most common toothed whales off the Northwest Iberian Peninsula (NWIP), specifically common dolphin, long-finned pilot whale, harbour porpoise, striped dolphin and bottlenose dolphin, were investigated. The study revealed that differences in PCB and PBDE concentrations among the species are highly dependent on age and sex but also on ecological factors such as trophic level, prey type and habitat. Of the five species studied, bottlenose dolphin and harbour porpoise showed the greatest concentrations of PCBs. Both species exceed the toxic threshold of 17 mu g g(-1) lipid weight (PCB Aroclor equivalent) for health effects on marine mammals, for 100% and 75% of the individuals tested, respectively. Overall, the PCB and PBDE levels observed in the NWIP toothed whales were of the same order of magnitude or lower than those reported by previous studies in areas of the NE Atlantic. However, they are often higher than those for toothed whales from the southern Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

KW - PCBs

KW - PBDEs

KW - Bioaccumulation

KW - Patterns

KW - Toothed whales

KW - Northwest Iberian Peninsula

KW - Bottle-nosed dolphins

KW - Polybrominated diphenyl ethers

KW - Porpoises phocoena-phocoena

KW - Polychlorinated-Biphenyls PCBS

KW - Female Coomon Dolphins

KW - Western-European Seas

KW - Harbor porpoises

KW - Organochlorine residues

KW - Tursiops-Truncatus

KW - Marine mammals

U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.02.045

DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.02.045

M3 - Article

SN - 0048-9697

VL - 484

SP - 196

EP - 205

JO - Science of the Total Environment

JF - Science of the Total Environment

ER -

An assessment of contaminant concentrations in toothed whale species of the NW Iberian Peninsula: Part I. Persistent organic pollutants

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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