Abstract
Nearshore vertebrate predators such as marine mammals and otters are apex predators, and as such, act both as drivers of the ecosystems in which they live and as sentinels of environmental health. As apex predators, these wild animals at the top of the food chain often bioaccumalate persistent organic pollutants (termed POPs) widespread throughout the environment. Organochlorines are a type of POP that tends to be lipophilic and hydrophobic which accumulate in the fatty tissues of marine mammals and other vertebrate predators over time. There has been growing concern about these POPs in the marine environment and within wildlife, as they can potentially cause health problems. Since the 1950s there have been 81,000 papers published on organochlorines in nearshore predators and potential negative effects to the environment, wildlife and humans. Here, we review organochlorines reported in the tissues of marine mammals and other nearshore vertebrate predators since 1995. We focus on five organochlorines that have been studied the most within nearshore vertebrate predators: 2,2-bis-(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1-trichloroethane or dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), toxaphene, and polychlorinated naphthalnese (PCNs).
Highlights
Life history characteristics such as long life spans and limited home ranges make marine mammals living indicators and sentinels of environmental health
It is banned in most developed countries, but is still used in other parts of the world. It is a neurotoxin and can cause pathological changes to the liver and reproductive system in animals [3]. Even though it has been in widespread use worldwide, there are relatively few values for levels found within nearshore vertebrate predators presumably because DDT was banned for use in the United States in the 1970s
Lab studies often expose captive animals to a single chemical at high doses for a short amount of time, making it difficult to extrapolate what effect low chronic doses from environmental exposure have on wildlife [36]
Summary
Life history characteristics such as long life spans and limited home ranges make marine mammals living indicators and sentinels of environmental health. In the past two decades there has been increasing concern about the effects of persistent and bioaccumulated toxicants in long lived apex predators in the marine environment These apex predators include nearshore vertebrate and marine mammals. It is a neurotoxin and can cause pathological changes to the liver and reproductive system in animals [3] Even though it has been in widespread use worldwide, there are relatively few values for levels found within nearshore vertebrate predators presumably because DDT was banned for use in the United States in the 1970s. The highest DDT level found in nearshore marine mammals was measured in transient killer whale (Orcinus orca) blubber from Kenai Fjords/Prince William Sound with a very high value of 320,000 ng/g lipids [5]. Liver: DDT: 4.3-59 μg/g PCBs: 5.9-86 μg/g Chlordanes: 0.27-5.1 μg/g HCH: 0.045-0.43 μg/g [40]
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