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

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Jepson, Paul D., Deaville, Rob, Barber, Jonathan L., Aguilar, Àlex, Borrell, Asunción, Murphy, Sinéad, Barry, Jon, Brownlow, Andrew, Barnett, James, Berrow, Simon, Cunningham, Andrew A., Davison, Nicholas J., Doeschate, Mariel ten, Esteban, Ruth, Ferreira, Marisa, Foote, Andrew D., Genov, Tilen, Giménez, Joan, Loveridge, Jan, Llavona, Ángela, Martin, Vidal, Maxwel, David L., Papachlimitzou, Alexandra, Penrose, Rod, Perkins, Matthew W., Smith, Brian, Stephanis, Renaud de, Tregenza, Nick, Verborgh, Philippe, Fernandez, Antonio, Law, Robin J.
• Other Authors: Borrell, Asuncion, Aguilar, Alex, Gimenez, Joan, CSIC, EBD Donana, Foote, Andy, 7006738308, 6603658704, 7402350646, 7102047003, 7004925435, 7402779296, 55430069900, 55245783300, 7201380416, 7003615115, 57203051586, 6603887563, 57053255100, 24491577500, 55576836600, 7007082786, 35169331800, 37032586500, 24390950600, 23489500300, 7202200332, 8874289600, 54584164100, 16304614400, 15045436600, 26326509600, 23566593800, 6508020171, 23006959600, 57212084410, 7201502132, 27312113, 1099337, 850156, 152226, 540505, 3759596, 895072, 1234697
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: 330811 Control de la contaminación del agua; 240119 Zoología marina; Porpoises Phocoena-Phocoena; Bottle-Nosed Dolphins; Polychlorinated-Biphenyls; Stenella-Coeruleoalba; Striped Dolphin; Organochlorine Concentrations; Cetacean Morbillivirus; Reproductive Success; Tursiops-Truncatus; Flame Retardants; Phocoena phocoena
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10553/20408; https://doi.org/10.1038/srep18573

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.