High pollutant exposure level of the largest European community of bottlenose dolphins in the English Channel

[en] The objective of this study was to assess the levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and mercury (T-Hg) in the blubber and skin, respectively, of the free-ranging bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, from the Normanno-Breton Gulf, one of the largest identified coastal population in Europe. Among all the POPs analysed in this study, the ∑NDL-PCBs were the most abundant compounds found in the blubber (mean: 1.33x105 – 0.65x105 ng.g-1 lipid weight (lw) for males and females respectively), followed by ∑DDX (1.11x104 – 4.67x103 ng.g-1 lw) > ∑DL-PCBs (8.06 x103– 2.62 x103ng.g-1 lw)> ∑PBDEs (1.95 x103– 0.64 x103ng.g-1 lw) > dieldrin (1.86 x103– 0.18 x103 ng.g-1 lw) > ∑endosulfan (405– 62 ng.g-1 lw) > HCB (86 – 52 ng.g-1 lw) > ∑HCHs (47 – 60 ng.g-1 lw) > ∑chlordane (24 – 0.97 ng.g-1 lw) > ∑PCDFs (0.3 – 0.1 ng.g-1 lw) > ∑PCDDs (0.06 – 0.05 ng.g-1 lw). The T-Hg concentrations were highly variable between individuals (2.45 x103 ng.g-1 to 21.3 x103 ng.g-1 dry weight, dw). The reported concentrations are among the highest reported for cetaceans. We strongly recommend that the Normanno-Breton Gulf be a special area of conservation (cSAC) candidate because it contains the last large European population of bottlenose dolphins (rare or threatened within a European context) designated under the EC Habitats Directive.

Research Center/Unit :

FOCUS - Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch - ULiège

Disciplines :

Aquatic sciences & oceanology
Environmental sciences & ecology

Author, co-author :

Zanuttini, Cyrielle

Gally, François

Scholl, Georges ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de chimie (sciences) > Center for Analytical Research and Technology (CART)

Thomé, Jean-Pierre ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Biologie, Ecologie et Evolution > Ecologie animale et écotoxicologie

Eppe, Gauthier ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de chimie (sciences) > Chimie analytique inorganique

Das, Krishna ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Biologie, Ecologie et Evolution > Océanographie biologique

Language :

English

Title :

High pollutant exposure level of the largest European community of bottlenose dolphins in the English Channel

Publication date :

12 September 2019

Journal title :

Scientific Reports

eISSN :

2045-2322

Publisher :

Nature Publishing Group, London, United Kingdom

Volume :

Pages :

12521

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/s41598-019-48485-7

Funders :

F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique
AESN - Agence de l'Eau Seine Normandie
Fondation d'entreprise TotalEnergies

Available on ORBi :

since 26 October 2019

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