TY - JOUR

T1 - PCB pollution continues to impact populations of orcas and other dolphins in European waters

AU - Jepson, Paul D

AU - Deaville, Rob

AU - Barber, Jonathan L

AU - Aguilar, Àlex

AU - Borrell, Asunción

AU - Murphy, Sinéad

AU - Barry, Jon

AU - Brownlow, Andrew

AU - Barnett, James

AU - Berrow, Simon

AU - Cunningham, Andrew A

AU - Davison, Nicholas J

AU - Ten Doeschate, Mariel

AU - Esteban, Ruth

AU - Ferreira, Marisa

AU - Foote, Andrew D

AU - Genov, Tilen

AU - Giménez, Joan

AU - Loveridge, Jan

AU - Llavona, Ángela

AU - Martin, Vidal

AU - Maxwell, David L

AU - Papachlimitzou, Alexandra

AU - Penrose, Rod

AU - Perkins, Matthew W

AU - Smith, Brian

AU - de Stephanis, Renaud

AU - Tregenza, Nick

AU - Verborgh, Philippe

AU - Fernandez, Antonio

AU - Law, Robin J

PY - 2016/1/14

Y1 - 2016/1/14

N2 - 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. In a large pan-European meta-analysis of stranded (n = 929) or biopsied (n = 152) cetaceans, three out of four species:- striped dolphins (SDs), bottlenose dolphins (BNDs) and killer whales (KWs) had mean PCB levels that markedly exceeded all known marine mammal PCB toxicity thresholds. Some locations (e.g. western Mediterranean Sea, south-west Iberian Peninsula) are global PCB "hotspots" for marine mammals. Blubber PCB concentrations initially declined following a mid-1980s EU ban, but have since stabilised in UK harbour porpoises and SDs in the western Mediterranean Sea. Some small or declining populations of BNDs and KWs in the NE Atlantic were associated with low recruitment, consistent with PCB-induced reproductive toxicity. Despite regulations and mitigation measures to reduce PCB pollution, their biomagnification in marine food webs continues to cause severe impacts among cetacean top predators in European seas.

AB - 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. In a large pan-European meta-analysis of stranded (n = 929) or biopsied (n = 152) cetaceans, three out of four species:- striped dolphins (SDs), bottlenose dolphins (BNDs) and killer whales (KWs) had mean PCB levels that markedly exceeded all known marine mammal PCB toxicity thresholds. Some locations (e.g. western Mediterranean Sea, south-west Iberian Peninsula) are global PCB "hotspots" for marine mammals. Blubber PCB concentrations initially declined following a mid-1980s EU ban, but have since stabilised in UK harbour porpoises and SDs in the western Mediterranean Sea. Some small or declining populations of BNDs and KWs in the NE Atlantic were associated with low recruitment, consistent with PCB-induced reproductive toxicity. Despite regulations and mitigation measures to reduce PCB pollution, their biomagnification in marine food webs continues to cause severe impacts among cetacean top predators in European seas.

KW - Animals

KW - Dolphins

KW - Europe

KW - Female

KW - Geography

KW - Male

KW - Polychlorinated Biphenyls/adverse effects

KW - Population Dynamics

KW - Spatio-Temporal Analysis

KW - Water Pollutants/adverse effects

KW - Water Pollution, Chemical

KW - Whale, Killer

U2 - 10.1038/srep18573

DO - 10.1038/srep18573

M3 - Article

C2 - 26766430

VL - 6

SP - 18573

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

SN - 2045-2322

ER -