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- Title
Organochlorines in stranded pilot whales (Globicephala melaena) fromthe coast of Massachusetts
- Authors
Early, G.; Varanasi, U.; Adams, N. G.; Krone, C. A.; Meador, J. P.; Tilbury, K. L.
- Abstract
Pilot whales strand periodically along the U.S. coast, and these strandings offer an opportunity for the collection of tissues for biomonitoring of contaminant exposure in cetaceans, as well as for specimenarchiving. Concentrations of organochlorine (OC) contaminants (e.g.,PCB congeners, pesticides, DDTs) were measured in tissue samples from pilot whales that stranded in 1986 and 1990 along the Massachusettscoast. Adult and fetal samples of blubber, liver, brain, and kidney were collected, as well as ovaries from mature female whales. Many ofthe OCs found in maternal tissues were detected in corresponding fetal tissues indicating maternal transfer of OCs to the fetus. The concentrations of individual OCs in tissues varied considerably among theanimals. Statistically significant differences were found between females and males for the concentrations of certain analytes (e.g., SigmaPCBs, p,p'-DDE) and these differences may, be partially due to contaminants being transferred by the female whales during gestation and lactation. The concentrations of OCs in different tissues were similar when based on total lipid weight, except for the brain, which contained the lowest lipid-normalized OC concentrations. The low concentrations in brain may be related to the disparate lipid compositions in this tissue as well as the presence of the blood-brain barrier. The availability of data on these archived and biomonitoring samples provides a baseline for future retrospective studies.
- Subjects
MASSACHUSETTS; UNITED States; PESTICIDES; BIOACCUMULATION; BIOLOGICAL monitoring; GLOBICEPHALA melaena
- Publication
Archives of Environmental Contamination & Toxicology, 1999, Vol 37, Issue 1, p125
- ISSN
0090-4341
- Publication type
Article