Accumulation of organochlorine contaminants in loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, from the eastern Adriatic Sea

• Published in: Chemosphere (Oxford) Vol. 82; no. 1; pp. 121 - 129
• Main Authors: Lazar, Bojan, Maslov, Luna, Romanić, Snježana Herceg, Gračan, Romana, Krauthacker, Blanka, Holcer, Draško, Tvrtković, Nikola
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adipose Tissue - metabolism; Adriatic Sea; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; bioaccumulation; Biological and medical sciences; Biomagnification; capture of animals; Caretta caretta; Congeners; Contaminants; Contamination; DDT (pesticide); Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates; endangered species; Environmental Monitoring; food webs; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated - metabolism; Mediterranean Sea; octanol-water partition coefficients; Organochlorine pesticides; PCB congeners; Pesticides - metabolism; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - metabolism; Reptilia. Amphibia; Sea turtles; Signatures; Toxicity; Trends; Turtles - growth & development; Turtles - metabolism; Water Pollutants, Chemical - metabolism; Adriatic Sea; Mediterranean Sea; Adriatic Sea; Mediterranean Sea; PCB congeners; Organochlorine pesticides; Biomagnification; Sea turtles; Insecticide; Adipose tissue; Caretta caretta; Pesticides; Polychlorobiphenyls; Concentration; Marine environment; Pollutant; Vertebrata; Chelonia; Organochlorine compounds; Reptilia; Biological accumulation
• ISSN: 0045-6535; 1879-1298
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2010.09.015

We analyzed 15 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and five organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in fat tissue of 27 loggerhead sea turtles ( Caretta caretta) from eastern Adriatic Sea with the curved carapace length ranging from 25.0 to 84.5 cm. The PCB profile was dominated by hexa- and hepta-chlorinated congeners, with PCB-153 (median: 114.9 ng g −1 wet mass), PCB-138 (80.0 ng g −1 w.m.), and PCB-180 (26.7 ng g −1 w.m.) detected with the highest levels. Toxic mono- ortho congeners PCB-118, PCB-105 and PCB-180 with dioxin-like toxicity were found in >70% samples. 4,4′-DDE (81.0 ng g −1 w.m.) prevailed the OCP signature, accounting for 80% of the total DDTs. A significant increasing trend in accumulation with size was found for PCB-52 ( r s = 0.512, p < 0.01) and PCB-114 ( r s = 0.421, p < 0.05). Comparison of our results with organochlorine contaminant (OC) pattern in some prey taxa suggest that contamination occurs primarily through the food web, with biomagnification factors of 0.14–6.99 which were positively correlated with the octanol–water partition coefficient (log K ow; p < 0.05). This study, based upon a fairly large sample size collected mostly from incidentally captured animals over a short time period (June 2001–November 2002), present a temporal snapshot of OC contamination in wild, free-ranging loggerheads from Adriatic feeding grounds and provide a baseline for monitoring the regional OC trends in this endangered species.