Dear Colleagues,
It is a pleasure to inform you about the following papers on persistent organic pollutants in bottlenose dolphins of the Canary Islands; a publication of stranded animals in Marine Environmental Research and another of free-ranging dolphins, more recently published in Science of the Total Environment. 1- Levels and profiles of POPs (organochlorine pesticides, PCBs, and PAHs) in free-ranging common bottlenose dolphins of the Canary Islands, Spain. Natalia García-Alvarez, Vidal Martín, Antonio Fernández, Javier Almunia, Aina Xuriach, Manuel Arbelo, Marisa Tejedor, Luis D. Boada, Manuel Zumbado, Octavio P. Luzardo. Science of the Total Environment (2014), DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.05.125. Abstract: The effect of anthropogenic pollution in marine mammals worldwide has become an important issue due to the high concentrations found in many areas. The present study represents the first report of pollutants in free-ranging cetaceans from the Canary Islands, where there are 12 marine Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), because of the presence of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).We selected this resident population of dolphins as a bioindicator to gain knowledge concerning the toxicological status of the cetaceans of this protected area. In 64 biopsy samples of live free-ranging animals sampled from 2003 to 2011, we determined the concentrations of 18 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 23 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). We found high levels of many of these pollutants, and some of them were detectable in 100% of the samples. The median value for ΣOCPs was 57,104 ng.g−1 lipid weight (lw), and the dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p′-DDE) accounted for 70% of this amount. Among PCBs, congeners 180, 153 and 138 were predominant (82% of ΣPCBs; median = 30,783 ng.g−1 lw). Concerning the analyzed PAHs, the total median burden was 13,598 ng.g−1 lw, and phenanthrene was the compound measured at the highest concentration followed by pyrene and by naphthalene. Surprisingly, we have found that organohalogen pollutants exhibit an upward trend in recent years of sampling. Thus, according to the guidelines outlined in the EU's Marine Strategy Framework Directive, further monitoring studies in Canary Islands are required to contribute to the conservation of the resident populations of marine mammals in this region. The article is now available online at: http://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0048969714008171 2- Assessment of the levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and organochlorine contaminants in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. Natalia García-Álvarez, Luis D. Boada, Antonio Fernández, Manuel Zumbado, Manuel Arbelo, Eva Sierra, Aina Xuriach, Javier Almunia, María Camacho, Octavio P. Luzardo. Marine Environmental Research (2014), DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2014.03.010. Abstract: The concentrations of 18 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 23 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), and 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined in the blubber and liver of 27 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) stranded along the Canary Islands coasts from 1997 to 2011. DDTs (mean of 60,960 and 445 ng/g lw., respectively) and PCBs (mean of 47,168 and 628 ng/g lw., respectively) were the predominant compounds in both tissues. Among PCBs the highly chlorinated PCB 180, 153 and 138 were the predominant congeners. We found a p,p´-DDE/∑DDTs ratio of 0.87 in blubber and 0.88 in liver, which is indicative of DDT ageing. All the samples showed detectable values of any of the 16 PAH studied. Phenanthrene was the most frequently detected and at the highest concentration. According to our results, concentrations of OCPs, and especially PCBs, are still at toxicologically relevant levels in blubber of bottlenose dolphins of this geographical area. The article is now available online at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141113614000592 If you are interested on the pdf and do not have access to the article, please contact me on [email protected] Best regards, Natalia García Álvarez Institute of Animal Health (IUSA) Veterinary School, University of Las Palmas (ULPGC) Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. Tel.: +34 928 459 711 E-mail address: [email protected]
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