Transplacental transfer of polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in arctic beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas)
✍ Scribed by Jean-Pierre W. Desforges; Peter S. Ross; Lisa L. Loseto
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2011
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 104 KB
- Volume
- 31
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0730-7268
- DOI
- 10.1002/etc.750
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Abstract
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