Study of the relation between the incidence of uterine leiomyomas and the concentrations of PCB and DDT in Baltic gray seals

Bredhult, Carolina; Bäcklin, Britt-Marie; Bignert, Anders; Olovsson, Matts

doi:10.1016/j.reprotox.2007.11.008

Cited by 38 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…In the 1960s, the Baltic Sea was found to be severely polluted by organic contaminants, e.g., polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) including its metabolites (Jensen et al 1969 , 1972 ). High PCB and DDT concentrations most probably were major causes of severe reproduction problems in three Baltic seal species ( Halichoerus grypus , Pusa hispida , and Phoca vitulina ) as well as the white-tailed eagle ( Haliaeetus albicilla ) in the Baltic (Helle et al 1976a , b ; Helander et al 2002 ; Bredhult et al 2008 ). These discoveries led to the start of an environmental contaminant research program at the Swedish Museum of Natural History (SMNH).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal and spatial trends of PCBs, DDTs, HCHs, and HCB in Swedish marine biota 1969–2012

Nyberg

Faxneld

Danielsson

et al. 2015

AMBIO

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In the 1960s, the Baltic Sea was severely polluted by organic contaminants such as PCBs, HCHs, HCB, and DDTs. Elevated concentrations caused severe adverse effects in Baltic biota. Since then, these substances have been monitored temporally and spatially in Baltic biota, primarily in herring (Clupea harengus) and in guillemot (Uria aalge) egg, but also in cod (Gadus morhua), perch (Perca fluviatilis), eelpout (Zoarces viviparous), and blue mussel (Mytilus edulis). These chemicals were banned in Sweden in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Since the start of monitoring, overall significant decreases of about 70–90 % have been observed. However, concentrations are still higher in the Baltic Sea than in, for example, the North Sea. CB-118 and DDE exceed the suggested target concentrations (24 µg kg−1 lipid weight and 5 µg kg−1 wet weight, respectively) at certain sites in some of the monitored species, showing that concentrations may still be too high to protect the most sensitive organisms.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0673-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal and spatial trends of PCBs, DDTs, HCHs, and HCB in Swedish marine biota 1969–2012

Nyberg

Faxneld

Danielsson

et al. 2015

AMBIO

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“…In the mid-1960s, research concerning environmental contaminant concentrations (e.g., chlorinated contaminants and heavy metals) and abundance, and their effects on wildlife began at the Swedish Museum of Natural History (SMNH) because of adverse health effects being observed in top predators such as Baltic grey seals ( Halichoerus grypus ) and white tailed sea eagles ( Haliaeetus albicilla ) (Helle et al 1976a , b ; Helander et al 2002 ; Bredhult et al 2008 ). During the 1970s, initial efforts were made to establish an environmental contaminant research program.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio-temporal trends of PCBs in the Swedish freshwater environment 1981–2012

Nyberg

Danielsson

Eriksson

et al. 2014

AMBIO

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Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been monitored in perch (Perca fluviatilis), pike (Esox lucius), and Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) in reference lakes since the late 1960s. Temporal trends and spatial patterns are currently monitored in nine and 32 lakes, respectively. Overall, PCB concentrations are decreasing. However, this is not consistent for all congeners across all lakes and species. Perch has comparatively low PCB concentrations relative to suggested target levels, but individual congener concentrations in some lakes are concerningly high. No temporal trend is seen for CB-118 and CB-153 in perch, but significant decreasing trends exist for Arctic char and pike, for which monitoring started earlier than for perch. The lower/higher chlorinated congener ratio decreased over time in most lakes, indicating fewer new emissions. CB-118 and CB-153 concentrations in perch show spatial gradients across Sweden, with higher concentrations found near urban/industrial areas.

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“…It has been suggested that the Caspian seal CDV outbreaks were facilitated or exacerbated by organochlorine contaminant loads [42] but recent re-analysis of these data found no link between OC levels and CDV mortality [43]. Low fertility in Caspian seals (from the 1960s to 1990s) has also been attributed to organochlorine contaminant loads [42], although the levels in 1997–2001 were mostly lower than those found to cause infertility and chronic disease complexes in Baltic ringed and grey seals [44], [45].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Collapse of a Marine Mammal Species Driven by Human Impacts

Härkönen

Hårding

Wilson³

et al. 2012

PLoS ONE

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Understanding historical roles of species in ecosystems can be crucial for assessing long term human impacts on environments, providing context for management or restoration objectives, and making conservation evaluations of species status. In most cases limited historical abundance data impedes quantitative investigations, but harvested species may have long-term data accessible from hunting records. Here we make use of annual hunting records for Caspian seals (Pusa caspica) dating back to the mid-19th century, and current census data from aerial surveys, to reconstruct historical abundance using a hind-casting model. We estimate the minimum numbers of seals in 1867 to have been 1–1.6 million, but the population declined by at least 90% to around 100,000 individuals by 2005, primarily due to unsustainable hunting throughout the 20th century. This collapse is part of a broader picture of catastrophic ecological change in the Caspian over the 20th Century. Our results combined with fisheries data show that the current biomass of top predators in the Caspian is much reduced compared to historical conditions. The potential for the Caspian and other similar perturbed ecosystems to sustain natural resources of much greater biological and economic value than at present depends on the extent to which a number of anthropogenic impacts can be harnessed.

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Study of the relation between the incidence of uterine leiomyomas and the concentrations of PCB and DDT in Baltic gray seals

Cited by 38 publications

References 39 publications

Temporal and spatial trends of PCBs, DDTs, HCHs, and HCB in Swedish marine biota 1969–2012

Temporal and spatial trends of PCBs, DDTs, HCHs, and HCB in Swedish marine biota 1969–2012

Spatio-temporal trends of PCBs in the Swedish freshwater environment 1981–2012

Collapse of a Marine Mammal Species Driven by Human Impacts

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