Organochlorines and lactation : mobilization and transfer to offspring in northern elephant seals

• Main Authors: Debier, Cathy, Crocker, D., Xhonneux, V., Thomé, Jean-Pierre
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Federal Environmental Agency 2007
• Subjects: lactation; elephant seals; tranfer of organochlorines; Life sciences; Environmental sciences & ecology; Aquatic sciences & oceanology; Sciences du vivant; Sciences de l’environnement & écologie; Sciences aquatiques & océanologie; Elephant Seal; Elephant Seals
• Online Access: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/158973

peer reviewed The transfer of PCBs and DDTs from mother to pup was studied in 20 Northern elephant seal Mirounga angustirostris mother-pup pairs. Organochlorine concentrations in milk increased from 127.3 ± 25.0 ng/g to 200.9 ± 39.6 ng/g for PCBs and from 278.2 ± 92.4 ng/g to 494.9 ± 163.4 ng/g for DDTs between day 4 and day 21 of lactation. A similar longitudinal rise was observed in the serum of mothers (5.4 ± 0.8 to 7.7 ± 1.4 ng/ml for PCBs and 7.8 ± 2.4 to 11.9 ± 4.1 ng/ml for DDTs) and, to a lesser extend, in the serum of their pups (5.8 ± 1.4 to 6.1 ± 2.5 ng/ml for PCBs and 8.3 ± 2.5 to 9.9 ± 4.3 ng/ml for DDTs) between early and late lactation. The rise of contaminants in serum and milk might originate from the changes observed in maternal inner blubber in which PCB and DDT levels increased significantly throughout lactation (604.2 ± 142.8 to 1292.5 ± 421.6 ng/g lipids for PCBs and 1223.9 ± 460.0 to 2395.9 ± 737.3 ng/g lipids for DDTs). By contrast, contaminant levels remained constant in outer blubber (933.2 ± 271.8 to 999.7 ± 223.5 ng/g lipids for PCBs and 2010.7 ± 698.3 to 2061.9 ± 603.5 ng/g lipids for DDTs).