Impaired immunity in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) exposed to bioaccumulated environmental contaminants: review of a long-term feeding study. Environmental Health Perspectives
Mass mortalities among seals and dolphins inhabiting contaminated marine regions have led to speculation about a possible involvement of immunosuppression associated with environmental pollution. To evaluate whether contaminants at ambient environmental levels can affect immune function of seals, we...
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ftciteseerx:oai:CiteSeerX.psu:10.1.1.276.3021 2023-05-15T17:58:51+02:00 Impaired immunity in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) exposed to bioaccumulated environmental contaminants: review of a long-term feeding study. Environmental Health Perspectives Rik L. De Swart Peter S. Ross Joseph G. Vos Albert D. M. E. Osterhausl The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives 1996 application/zip http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.276.3021 en eng http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.276.3021 Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. ftp://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/f2/2f/Environ_Health_Perspect_1996_Aug_104(Suppl_4)_823-828.tar.gz Key words harbour seals Phoca vitulina marine mammals environment text 1996 ftciteseerx 2016-01-07T20:50:27Z Mass mortalities among seals and dolphins inhabiting contaminated marine regions have led to speculation about a possible involvement of immunosuppression associated with environmental pollution. To evaluate whether contaminants at ambient environmental levels can affect immune function of seals, we carried out an immunotoxicological study under semifield conditions. Two groups of 1 1 harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) originating from a relatively uncontaminated area were fed herring from either the highly polluted Baltic Sea or the relatively uncontaminated Atlantic Ocean. Changes in immune function were monitored over a 2 1/2-year period. The seals that were fed contaminated Baltic herring developed significantly higher body burdens of potentially immunotoxic organochlorines and displayed impaired immune responses as demonstrated by suppression of natural killer cell activity and specific T-cell responses. During a 2-week fasting experiment performed at the end of the feeding study, mobilization of organochlorines from the blubber did not lead to a strong increase of contaminant levels in the blood, and no enhancement of the existing immunosuppression was observed. These results demonstrate that chronic exposure to environmental contaminants accumulated through the food chain affects immune function in harbour seals, whereas short-term fasting periods, which are normal for seals, do not Text Phoca vitulina Unknown |
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English |
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Key words harbour seals Phoca vitulina marine mammals environment |
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Key words harbour seals Phoca vitulina marine mammals environment Rik L. De Swart Peter S. Ross Joseph G. Vos Albert D. M. E. Osterhausl Impaired immunity in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) exposed to bioaccumulated environmental contaminants: review of a long-term feeding study. Environmental Health Perspectives |
topic_facet |
Key words harbour seals Phoca vitulina marine mammals environment |
description |
Mass mortalities among seals and dolphins inhabiting contaminated marine regions have led to speculation about a possible involvement of immunosuppression associated with environmental pollution. To evaluate whether contaminants at ambient environmental levels can affect immune function of seals, we carried out an immunotoxicological study under semifield conditions. Two groups of 1 1 harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) originating from a relatively uncontaminated area were fed herring from either the highly polluted Baltic Sea or the relatively uncontaminated Atlantic Ocean. Changes in immune function were monitored over a 2 1/2-year period. The seals that were fed contaminated Baltic herring developed significantly higher body burdens of potentially immunotoxic organochlorines and displayed impaired immune responses as demonstrated by suppression of natural killer cell activity and specific T-cell responses. During a 2-week fasting experiment performed at the end of the feeding study, mobilization of organochlorines from the blubber did not lead to a strong increase of contaminant levels in the blood, and no enhancement of the existing immunosuppression was observed. These results demonstrate that chronic exposure to environmental contaminants accumulated through the food chain affects immune function in harbour seals, whereas short-term fasting periods, which are normal for seals, do not |
author2 |
The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives |
format |
Text |
author |
Rik L. De Swart Peter S. Ross Joseph G. Vos Albert D. M. E. Osterhausl |
author_facet |
Rik L. De Swart Peter S. Ross Joseph G. Vos Albert D. M. E. Osterhausl |
author_sort |
Rik L. De Swart |
title |
Impaired immunity in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) exposed to bioaccumulated environmental contaminants: review of a long-term feeding study. Environmental Health Perspectives |
title_short |
Impaired immunity in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) exposed to bioaccumulated environmental contaminants: review of a long-term feeding study. Environmental Health Perspectives |
title_full |
Impaired immunity in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) exposed to bioaccumulated environmental contaminants: review of a long-term feeding study. Environmental Health Perspectives |
title_fullStr |
Impaired immunity in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) exposed to bioaccumulated environmental contaminants: review of a long-term feeding study. Environmental Health Perspectives |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impaired immunity in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) exposed to bioaccumulated environmental contaminants: review of a long-term feeding study. Environmental Health Perspectives |
title_sort |
impaired immunity in harbour seals (phoca vitulina) exposed to bioaccumulated environmental contaminants: review of a long-term feeding study. environmental health perspectives |
publishDate |
1996 |
url |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.276.3021 |
genre |
Phoca vitulina |
genre_facet |
Phoca vitulina |
op_source |
ftp://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/f2/2f/Environ_Health_Perspect_1996_Aug_104(Suppl_4)_823-828.tar.gz |
op_relation |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.276.3021 |
op_rights |
Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. |
_version_ |
1766167569390108672 |