Persistent organic pollutants and methoxylated PBDEs in harbour porpoises from the North Sea from 1990 until 2008: young wildlife at risk?
Abstract: In the European North Sea, harbour porpoises are top predators with relatively long life spans and a limited capacity for metabolic biotransformation of contaminants compared to some other marine mammal species. As such, they are exposed to a mixture of persistent pollutants, such as polyc...
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2010
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ftunivantwerpen:c:irua:84645 2023-07-16T03:58:52+02:00 Persistent organic pollutants and methoxylated PBDEs in harbour porpoises from the North Sea from 1990 until 2008: young wildlife at risk? Weijs, Liesbeth van Elk, Cornelis Das, Krishna Blust, Ronny Covaci, Adrian 2010 pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10067/846450151162165141 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2010.09.035 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/isi/000285070900026 info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess 0048-9697 The science of the total environment Biology info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2010 ftunivantwerpen https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2010.09.035 2023-06-26T22:14:39Z Abstract: In the European North Sea, harbour porpoises are top predators with relatively long life spans and a limited capacity for metabolic biotransformation of contaminants compared to some other marine mammal species. As such, they are exposed to a mixture of persistent pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), DDT and metabolites (DDXs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and chlordanes (CHLs) that bioaccumulate in their tissues. We report here on the levels of persistent organic pollutants and of the naturally-produced methoxylated PBDEs (MeO-PBDEs) in blubber, liver and kidney of harbour porpoise neonates (n = 3), calves (n = 15), juveniles (n = 6) and adults (n = 4) of the southern North Sea. Concentrations of almost all contaminant classes decrease slightly in all age groups over the period 19902008. For some classes (e.g. PCBs and DDXs) however, levels seem to increase little in harbour porpoise calves. In all animals, blubber had the highest concentrations, followed by liver and kidney, whereas liver and kidney were the preferred tissues for several compounds, such as octa- and deca-PCBs. Our data suggest that harbour porpoises calves are exposed to higher or comparable concentrations of POPs and of MeO-PBDEs and somewhat different patterns of selected POPs than adults, potentially placing them, and the entire population, at a disproportionate risk for exposure-related health effects. Article in Journal/Newspaper Harbour porpoise IRUA - Institutional Repository van de Universiteit Antwerpen Science of The Total Environment 409 1 228 237 |
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Open Polar |
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IRUA - Institutional Repository van de Universiteit Antwerpen |
op_collection_id |
ftunivantwerpen |
language |
English |
topic |
Biology |
spellingShingle |
Biology Weijs, Liesbeth van Elk, Cornelis Das, Krishna Blust, Ronny Covaci, Adrian Persistent organic pollutants and methoxylated PBDEs in harbour porpoises from the North Sea from 1990 until 2008: young wildlife at risk? |
topic_facet |
Biology |
description |
Abstract: In the European North Sea, harbour porpoises are top predators with relatively long life spans and a limited capacity for metabolic biotransformation of contaminants compared to some other marine mammal species. As such, they are exposed to a mixture of persistent pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), DDT and metabolites (DDXs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and chlordanes (CHLs) that bioaccumulate in their tissues. We report here on the levels of persistent organic pollutants and of the naturally-produced methoxylated PBDEs (MeO-PBDEs) in blubber, liver and kidney of harbour porpoise neonates (n = 3), calves (n = 15), juveniles (n = 6) and adults (n = 4) of the southern North Sea. Concentrations of almost all contaminant classes decrease slightly in all age groups over the period 19902008. For some classes (e.g. PCBs and DDXs) however, levels seem to increase little in harbour porpoise calves. In all animals, blubber had the highest concentrations, followed by liver and kidney, whereas liver and kidney were the preferred tissues for several compounds, such as octa- and deca-PCBs. Our data suggest that harbour porpoises calves are exposed to higher or comparable concentrations of POPs and of MeO-PBDEs and somewhat different patterns of selected POPs than adults, potentially placing them, and the entire population, at a disproportionate risk for exposure-related health effects. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Weijs, Liesbeth van Elk, Cornelis Das, Krishna Blust, Ronny Covaci, Adrian |
author_facet |
Weijs, Liesbeth van Elk, Cornelis Das, Krishna Blust, Ronny Covaci, Adrian |
author_sort |
Weijs, Liesbeth |
title |
Persistent organic pollutants and methoxylated PBDEs in harbour porpoises from the North Sea from 1990 until 2008: young wildlife at risk? |
title_short |
Persistent organic pollutants and methoxylated PBDEs in harbour porpoises from the North Sea from 1990 until 2008: young wildlife at risk? |
title_full |
Persistent organic pollutants and methoxylated PBDEs in harbour porpoises from the North Sea from 1990 until 2008: young wildlife at risk? |
title_fullStr |
Persistent organic pollutants and methoxylated PBDEs in harbour porpoises from the North Sea from 1990 until 2008: young wildlife at risk? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Persistent organic pollutants and methoxylated PBDEs in harbour porpoises from the North Sea from 1990 until 2008: young wildlife at risk? |
title_sort |
persistent organic pollutants and methoxylated pbdes in harbour porpoises from the north sea from 1990 until 2008: young wildlife at risk? |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10067/846450151162165141 |
genre |
Harbour porpoise |
genre_facet |
Harbour porpoise |
op_source |
0048-9697 The science of the total environment |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2010.09.035 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/isi/000285070900026 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2010.09.035 |
container_title |
Science of The Total Environment |
container_volume |
409 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
228 |
op_container_end_page |
237 |
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1771546229039169536 |