Organochlorines in harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) stranded along the southern North Sea between 2010 and 2013.

• Published in: Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts
• Main Authors: Mahfouz, Celine, Henry, Francoise, Jauniaux, Thierry, Khalaf, Gaby, Amara, Rachid
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Royal Society of Chemistry 2014
• Subjects: Life sciences; Veterinary medicine & animal health; Sciences du vivant; Médecine vétérinaire & santé animale; North East Atlantic; Phocoena phocoena
• Online Access: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/174672; https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/174672/1/Mahfouz%20et%20al.%2c%202014%20POPs.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1039/c4em00490f

peer reviewed 7 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 6 dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDXs) and 8 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were measured in the blubber of 20 harbour porpoises stranded on the coasts of the southern North Sea between 2010 and 2013. The results showed that porpoises that died from infectious diseases displayed significantly higher levels of PCBs in their blubber compared to healthy porpoises that died from physical trauma. summation operator7CBs and summation operatorDDXs were higher in juvenile porpoises compared to adult females. Except for three individuals, PBDE concentrations were below the limit of quantification in the blubber samples treated. In general, levels of PCBs and DDXs obtained in the blubber of porpoises from this study were in the same order of magnitude or even lower than those obtained in the blubber of porpoises stranded along the North East Atlantic Ocean and the Black Sea over the period 1987 and 2013. The results of the present study suggest that even if the status of marine pollution has been improved, a continuous long-term contamination by toxic organochlorines over many generations may be observed.