Are the Mediterranean Top Predators Exposed to Toxicological Risk Due to Endocrine Disrupters?

• Published in: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
• Main Authors: FOSSI, M. C., CASINI, S., MARSILI, L., AUSILI, A., NOTARBARTOLO DI SCIARA, G.
• Other Authors: Fossi, M. C., Casini, S., Marsili, L., Ausili, A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2001
• Subjects: endocrine disrupter; Mediterranean Sea; top predator; swordfish; marine mammal; biomarker; Vitellogenin; Zona Radiata protein; skin biopsy; BPMO; Balaenoptera physalus
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11365/39898; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2001.tb03987.x

Man-made endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) range across all continents and oceans; some geographic areas are potentially more threatened than others: one of these is the Mediterranean Sea. This basin has limited exchange of water with the Atlantic Ocean and is surrounded by some of the most heavily populated and industrialized countries in the world. Accordingly, levels of some xenobiotics are much higher here than in other seas and oceans. In this research the unexplored hypothesis that Mediterranean top predator species (such as large pelagic fish and marine mammals) are potentially at risk due to EDCs is investigated. Here we illustrate the development of sensitive biomarkers (Vitellogenin, Zona Radiata proteins) for evaluation of toxicological risk in top marine predators (Xiphias gladius, Thunnus thynnus thynnus), and nonlethal techniques, such as nondestructive biomarkers (BPMO activities in skin biopsy), for the hazard assessment of threatened species exposed to EDCs, such as marine mammals (Stenella coeruleoalba, Tursiops truncatus, Delphinus delphis, and Balaenoptera physalus).