Organochlorine concentrations in resident bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus) in the Shannon estuary, Ireland

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin Vol. 44; no. 11; pp. 1296 - 1303
• Main Authors: Berrow, S.D., Mchugh, B., Glynn, D., Mcgovern, E., Parsons, K.M., Baird, R.W., Hooker, S.K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2002; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adipose Tissue - metabolism; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Biopsy - methods; Biopsy - veterinary; Dolphins - metabolism; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates; Eire, Shannon R; Environmental Monitoring - methods; Female; Food Chain; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Insecticides - analysis; Insecticides - pharmacokinetics; Ireland; Male; Mammalia; Oceans and Seas; organochlorines; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - analysis; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - pharmacokinetics; Skin - metabolism; Tissue Distribution; Tursiops truncatus; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water Pollutants, Chemical - pharmacokinetics; Europe; Ireland; Eire; Eire, Munster, Shannon Estuary; ANE, Eire, Munster, Shannon Estuary; Persistent organic pollutant; Brackish water environment; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Organochlorine compounds; Estuaries; Water pollution; Cetacea; Biological accumulation; Sedentary; Tursiops truncatus
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/S0025-326X(02)00215-1

Tissue samples were collected from bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus in the Shannon estuary, Ireland, and concentrations of organochlorines were measured. The tissue samples were obtained using biopsy darts. Five of the eight dolphins biopsied exhibited low-level reactions following dart impact, while two showed a moderate reaction, and one showed a strong reaction. Only PCB congener 126 was found to occur at low or undetectable concentrations, and for all organochlorines analyzed, mean concentrations were higher in males than in females. Highest concentrations were found for p,p'-DDE, followed by the PCB congeners 153 and 138. All relevant concentration data are tabulated, showing that the mean levels of organochlorine pesticides and PCBs were higher in bottlenose dolphins from the Shannon estuary that in harbor porpoises and common dolphins caught incidentially in fishing nets in Irish waters.