Polychlorinated biphenyls still pose significant health risks to northwest Atlantic harbor seals

Shaw, Susan D.; Berger, Michelle L.; Weijs, Liesbeth; Päpke, Olaf

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.05.011

Cited by 16 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…A similar trend was reported for European seals [209], and may reflect fresh inputs and/or an equilibrium in environmental cycling. A recent study reported current concentrations of PCBs in liver and blubber in this population [25]. Whereas blubber is the tissue commonly analyzed, liver may be more representative of recent exposure [210].…”

Section: North Americamentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Feeding studies conducted in the mid-1980s and 1990s demonstrated the sensitivity of harbor seals to PCB and PCDD/F exposure and helped establish a threshold level for PCB-related immune suppression and other adverse effects in adult marine mammals [43,48,[64][65][66]. Recent studies using a biomarker approach indicate that the threshold for PCB-induced immuneand endocrine disrupting effects in nursing seal pups is at least an order of magnitude lower [25,[67][68][69][70].…”

Section: Marine Mammalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because of their lipophilic nature and resistance to metabolism, PCBs, dioxins, and related compounds bioaccumulate and biomagnify in the fatty tissues of animals and humans. PCBs can easily reach higher concentrations in predator species at the upper trophic levels [22,23] and are the predominant contaminants in most wildlife populations today [24,25]. High levels of dioxins and PCBs have been detected in dolphins [26][27][28], harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) [25,29,30] Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…PCBs can easily reach higher concentrations in predator species at the upper trophic levels [22,23] and are the predominant contaminants in most wildlife populations today [24,25]. High levels of dioxins and PCBs have been detected in dolphins [26][27][28], harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) [25,29,30] Fig. 1 Structures of dioxin and dioxin-like halogenated compounds northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) [31], hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) [32], Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) [33], sharks [27,34], predatory birds [28,35], and human tissues [28,[36][37][38].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Harbor seals fed PCDD/F and PCB-contaminated fish exhibited reproductive impairment [48], reduced plasma thyroid hormone and retinol levels [64], and the suppression of numerous cellular and humoral immune functions [65,66]. Recent biomarker studies indicate that nursing seal pups with relatively low blubber concentrations of PCBs may be vulnerable to immune-and endocrine disrupting effects during a sensitive window of development [25,[67][68][69][70].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Levels, Trends, and Health Effects of Dioxins and Related Compounds in Aquatic Biota

She

Guan

et al. 2016

The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry

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The objective of this chapter is to review current knowledge of the levels, trends, and health effects of dioxins and dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) including polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PBDD/Fs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in aquatic biota, with a special focus on high trophic level species. DLCs can be released into the environment through storm runoff, air deposition, wastewater discharge from industrial processes, and leaching from landfills. To characterize their influences in biota, studies examining levels and trends of DLCs from invertebrates to vertebrates from several regions (the Arctic, North America, Asia and Europe) are reviewed. Over several decades, such studies have helped elucidate the accumulation, possible sources, metabolic fate, as well as the potential health effects of dioxins and DLCs in aquatic biota. The trophic transfer of these compounds via bioaccumulation and biomagnification can result in higher concentrations in top predators, and a wide range of toxic effects (e.g., endocrine disruption, developmental and reproductive effects, and immunotoxicity) has been reported in diverse species, especially those occupying high trophic levels, e.g., marine mammals. Because of their high trophic position and widespread distribution, marine mammals are valuable sentinel species for PCB and DLC contamination, providing insights into possible sources, transport pathways, and the distribution of these compounds on a global scale. Populationlevels effects related to contaminant-induced reproductive impairment and disease have been reported in wildlife inhabiting polluted regions, and the occurrence of mass mortalities among marine mammal populations has been linked to high body burdens of immunotoxic compounds, notably PCBs. Many affected populations have never recovered to their original levels. For many contaminant-stressed populations, the added stress of climate change is exacerbating the problem, causing shifts in food webs and increasing both the distribution and toxicity of POPs in coastal and oceanic environments. Critical data gaps and future research challenges are highlighted as areas that require further study.

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Section: North Americamentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Marine Mammalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Levels, Trends, and Health Effects of Dioxins and Related Compounds in Aquatic Biota

She

Guan

et al. 2016

The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry

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Non-targeted screening workflows for gas chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry analysis and identification of biomagnifying contaminants in biota samples

Rebryk

Haglund

2020

Anal Bioanal Chem

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The health of key species in the Baltic region has been impaired by exposure to anthropogenic hazardous substances (AHSs), which accumulate in organisms and are transferred through food chains. There is, thus, a need for comprehensive characterization of the occurrence and accumulation of AHSs in the ecosystem. In this study, we use a non-target screening (NTS) approach for this purpose. A major challenge in NTS of biological samples is the removal of matrix components such as lipids that may interfere with the detection and identification of compounds of interest. Here, we combine gel permeation chromatography with Florisil® column fractionation to achieve sufficient lipid removal for gas chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry analysis using electron ionization (EI) and electron capture negative ion chemical ionization (ECNI). In addition, we present new data processing workflows designed to systematically find and identify frequently occurring and biomagnifying AHSs, including known, emerging, and new contaminants. Using these workflows, we discovered a wide range of contaminants in tissue samples from blue mussels, fish, and marine mammals, and calculated their biomagnification factors (BMFs). Compounds with BMFs above 1 for herring and at least one marine mammal included legacy chlorinated pollutants (polychlorinated biphenyls, DDTs, chloro-benzenes/cyclohexanes, chlordanes, toxaphenes, dieldrin), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and brominated biphenyls. However, there were also several halogenated natural products (halogenated methoxylated brominated diphenyl ethers, 1′-methyl-1,2′-bipyrroles, 1,1′-dimethyl-2,2′-bipyrroles, and the halogenated monoterpene mixed halogenated compound 1) as well as the novel flame retardant Dechlorane 602 and several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, terpenoids, and steroids. The legacy pollutants exhibited the expected biomagnification behavior, demonstrating the utility of the unguided data processing workflow.

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In Vitro Exposure of Harbor Seal Immune Cells to Aroclor 1260 Alters Phocine Distemper Virus Replication

Bogomolni

Frasca

Levin

et al. 2015

Arch Environ Contam Toxicol

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In the last 30 years, several large-scale marine mammal mortality events have occurred, often in close association with highly polluted regions, leading to suspicions that contaminant-induced immunosuppression contributed to these epizootics. Some of these recent events also identified morbillivirus as a cause of or contributor to death. The role of contaminant exposures regarding morbillivirus mortality is still unclear. The results of this study aimed to address the potential for a mixture of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), specifically Aroclor 1260, to alter harbor seal T-lymphocyte proliferation and to assess if exposure resulted in increased likelihood of phocine distemper virus (PDV USA 2006) to infect susceptible seals in an in vitro system. Exposure of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to Aroclor 1260 did not significantly alter lymphocyte proliferation (1, 5, 10, and 20 ppm). However, using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), lymphocytes exposed to 20 ppm Aroclor 1260 exhibited a significant decrease in PDV replication at day 7 and a significant increase at day 11 compared with unexposed control cells. Similar and significant differences were apparent on exposure to Aroclor 1260 in monocytes and supernatant. The results here indicate that in harbor seals, Aroclor 1260 exposure results in a decrease in virus early during infection and an increase during late infection. The consequences of this contaminant-induced infection pattern in a highly susceptible host could result in a greater potential for systemic infection with greater viral load, which could explain the correlative findings seen in wild populations exposed to a range of persistent contaminants that suffer from morbillivirus epizootics.

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Polychlorinated biphenyls still pose significant health risks to northwest Atlantic harbor seals

Cited by 16 publications

References 62 publications

Levels, Trends, and Health Effects of Dioxins and Related Compounds in Aquatic Biota

Levels, Trends, and Health Effects of Dioxins and Related Compounds in Aquatic Biota

Non-targeted screening workflows for gas chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry analysis and identification of biomagnifying contaminants in biota samples

In Vitro Exposure of Harbor Seal Immune Cells to Aroclor 1260 Alters Phocine Distemper Virus Replication

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