Transplacental transfer of polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in arctic beluga whales ( Delphinapterus leucas ) | Zendy

Desforges JeanPierre W. | Zendy; Ross Peter S. | Zendy; Loseto Lisa L. | Zendy

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Transplacental transfer of polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in arctic beluga whales ( Delphinapterus leucas )

Author(s) -

Desforges JeanPierre W.,

Ross Peter S.,

Loseto Lisa L.

Publication year - 2012

Publication title -

environmental toxicology and chemistry

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1

H-Index - 171

eISSN - 1552-8618

pISSN - 0730-7268

DOI - 10.1002/etc.750

Subject(s) - beluga whale , blubber , polybrominated diphenyl ethers , beluga , leucas , environmental chemistry , polychlorinated biphenyl , diphenyl ether , persistent organic pollutant , pollutant , arctic , polybrominated biphenyls , chemistry , zoology , biology , fishery , ecology , organic chemistry

This study found that arctic beluga whales ( Delphinapterus leucas ) transferred, on average, 11.4% (7.5 mg) and 11.1% (0.1 mg) of their polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) blubber burden to their near‐term fetuses. A single physicochemical parameter, log K OW , largely explained this transplacental transfer for PCBs ( r 2 = 0.79, p < 0.00001) and PBDEs ( r 2 = 0.37, p = 0.007), with congeners having a log K OW < 6.5 preferentially transferred to the fetus. Blubber concentrations of 257 ng/g lipid weight (lw) PCBs and 3.8 ng/g (lw) PBDEs in beluga fetuses highlights the exposure to endocrine‐disrupting compounds during a critical developmental stage. The implications of detecting these levels of legacy PCBs and the flame retardant PBDEs in unborn arctic beluga are unclear. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2012;31:296–300. © 2011 SETAC

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