Bioaccumulation of nonylphenols and bisphenol A in the Greenland shark Somniosus microcephalus from the Greenland seawaters

Abstract

Recent climate changes associated with anthropogenic emissions of pollutants are triggering shifts in global biogeochemical cycles and polar marine ecosystem. The decrease of sea ice and the mechanism of ice formation/melting, may considerably have an impact on the mobility of contaminants and on the loss of biodiversity. In this work, we report the occurrence and bioaccumulation of selected endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) in muscle and liver of the Greenland shark Somniosus microcephalus, an arctic species of interest for biogeography, migration, physiology, long- and short-term contaminant storage. The EDCs selected for this study were 4-nonylphenol (4-NP), its mono- (NP1EO) and di-ethoxylate (NP2EO) precursors and bisphenol A (BPA). There are currently very few scientific papers on the distribution and transport of these EDCs in the arctic marine food web and no such studies have been performed on the Greenland shark. Totally, muscles and liver samples were analyzed from 23 Greenland sharks (TL range 149–442cm) sampled in W, SW, SE, and NE Greenland. Extraction of analytes from biological matrices were performed by ASE (Accelerated Solvent Extraction), followed by HPLC-Fluorescence (FLD) detection. Results showed higher contamination levels in muscle than in liver in the sharks from SE and NE Greenland, while in specimens from W and SW Greenland the liver was the tissue more contaminated. In fact, the 4-NP, NP1-2EO and BPA mean content in liver of SW Greenland specimens was 43.5ng/g, 288.5ng/g and 8.2ng/g wet wt respectively, while in muscle mean concentrations was 20.3ng/g for 4-NP, 171.1ng/g wet wt for NP1-2EO and 7.9ng/g for BPA. Results confirm the presence of selected EDCs in this species, suggesting the transfer of contamination in the Euro-Arctic marine trophic web.