PCB pollution continues to impact populations of orcas and other dolphins in European waters

Scientific Reports
P D JepsonRobin J Law

Abstract

Organochlorine (OC) pesticides and the more persistent polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have well-established dose-dependent toxicities to birds, fish and mammals in experimental studies, but the actual impact of OC pollutants on European marine top predators remains unknown. Here we show that several cetacean species have very high mean blubber PCB concentrations likely to cause population declines and suppress population recovery. In a large pan-European meta-analysis of stranded (n = 929) or biopsied (n = 152) cetaceans, three out of four species:- striped dolphins (SDs), bottlenose dolphins (BNDs) and killer whales (KWs) had mean PCB levels that markedly exceeded all known marine mammal PCB toxicity thresholds. Some locations (e.g. western Mediterranean Sea, south-west Iberian Peninsula) are global PCB "hotspots" for marine mammals. Blubber PCB concentrations initially declined following a mid-1980s EU ban, but have since stabilised in UK harbour porpoises and SDs in the western Mediterranean Sea. Some small or declining populations of BNDs and KWs in the NE Atlantic were associated with low recruitment, consistent with PCB-induced reproductive toxicity. Despite regulations and mitigation measures to reduce PCB pollution, t...Continue Reading

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Citations

Dec 3, 2016·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Viola PavlovaVolker Grimm
Mar 12, 2017·Environmental Pollution·Òscar Aznar-AlemanyDamià Barceló
May 30, 2017·The Science of the Total Environment·Sara PedroMelissa A McKinney
Apr 8, 2017·Scientific Reports·Jean-Pierre W DesforgesRune Dietz
Jan 23, 2018·Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science : JAAWS·Marie-Françoise Van BressemPádraig J Duignan
Sep 29, 2018·Science·Jean-Pierre DesforgesRune Dietz
Jan 17, 2019·International Journal of Phytoremediation·Nancy J PinoGustavo A Peñuela
Feb 24, 2019·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Agnieszka Tomza-MarciniakRenata Pilarczyk
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Feb 27, 2018·Conservation Physiology·Joanna L KershawAilsa J Hall
Nov 25, 2017·Critical Reviews in Toxicology·Peter MatthiessenLennart Weltje
Jun 18, 2016·Science·Paul D Jepson, Robin J Law
Jan 3, 2020·The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America·Tobias SchaffeldUrsula Siebert
Jul 15, 2020·The Veterinary Record·Frances GullandLorenzo Rojas-Bracho
Jul 26, 2017·Conservation Physiology·Kim Birnie-GauvinSteven J Cooke
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Sep 1, 2020·Environmental Pollution·G López-BerenguerE Martínez-López

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
PCB
biopsies
biopsy

Software Mentioned

R package mgcv
GEOMEAN
HELCOM

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