Use of skin and blubber tissues of small cetaceans to assess the trace element content of internal organs

• Published in: Marine Pollution Bulletin
• Main Authors: Aubail, Aurore, Méndez-Fernandez, Paula, Bustamante, Paco, Churlaud, Carine, Ferreira, M., Vingada, José, Caurant, Florence
• Other Authors: LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental (CBMA), Universidade do Minho = University of Minho Braga, CESAM and Department of Biology, CPER 13
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2013
• Subjects: Trace element; Bioaccumulation; Skin; Blubber; Biopsy; Cetaceans; [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology; Harbour porpoise; Phocoena phocoena
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00873396; https://hal.science/hal-00873396/document; https://hal.science/hal-00873396/file/Aubail_et_al._2014_MPB.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.09.008

International audience In order to evaluate the use of biopsy samples as non-destructive tool for assessing trace element concentrations in small cetaceans, the concentrations of 14 trace elements were determined in skin, blubber, liver and kidneys of four species of small cetaceans (i.e. common dolphin Delphinus delphis, harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena, bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus and striped dolphin Stenella coeruleolba), stranded and/or by-caught along the NE Atlantic Ocean coast between 2001 and 2008. Only Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni and Zn were above the detection limit of the instruments and showed recoveries satisfactory enough to be interpreted. Among these trace elements, Hg was the only one showing a significant correlation between concentrations in and those in liver and kidneys. In consequence, skin and blubber can only be used as non-invasive monitoring tissues to investigate Hg bioaccumulation in internal tissues for cetacean populations.