Keller Jennifer M, Kucklick John R, Harms Craig A, McClellan-Green Patricia D
Duke University, Integrated Toxicology Program and Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Division of Coastal Systems Science and Policy, Beaufort, North Carolina 28516, USA.
Environ Toxicol Chem. 2004 Mar;23(3):726-38. doi: 10.1897/03-254.
Monitoring toxic organochlorine (OC) compounds is an important aspect in wildlife studies, especially in protected species such as sea turtles. The goal of this study was to determine whether blood OC concentrations can predict those in adipose tissue of sea turtles. Blood offers many benefits for monitoring OCs. It can be collected nondestructively from live turtles and can be sampled repeatedly for continuous monitoring. Organochlorine concentrations in blood may better represent the exposure levels of target tissues, but blood concentrations may fluctuate more than those in fatty tissues following recent dietary exposure or lipid mobilization. Paired fat and blood samples were collected from 44 live, juvenile loggerhead sea turtles and 10 juvenile Kemp's ridley sea turtle carcasses. Organochlorines were analyzed using gas chromatography with electron capture detection and mass spectrometry. Lipid-normalized OC concentrations measured in the blood significantly correlated to levels found in the fat samples of both species. This result suggests that sea turtle blood is a suitable alternative to fatty tissues for measuring OCs because blood concentrations reasonably represent those observed in the paired fat samples. However, blood OC concentrations calculated on a wet-mass basis were significantly and inversely correlated to lipid content in the fat samples. Therefore, caution should be used when monitoring spatial or temporal trends, as OC levels may increase in the blood following mobilization of fat stores, such as during long migrations, breeding, or disease events.
监测有毒有机氯（OC）化合物是野生动物研究中的一个重要方面，尤其是在诸如海龟等受保护物种的研究中。本研究的目的是确定血液中的有机氯浓度是否能够预测海龟脂肪组织中的有机氯浓度。血液对于监测有机氯具有诸多优势。它可以从活体海龟身上无损采集，并且能够反复采样以进行持续监测。血液中的有机氯浓度或许能更好地反映目标组织的暴露水平，但在近期饮食暴露或脂质动员之后，血液浓度的波动可能比脂肪组织中的浓度波动更大。从44只活体幼年蠵龟和10具幼年肯氏丽龟尸体上采集了配对的脂肪和血液样本。使用带有电子捕获检测和质谱的气相色谱法对有机氯进行分析。在血液中测量的脂质标准化有机氯浓度与两个物种脂肪样本中发现的水平显著相关。这一结果表明，海龟血液是用于测量有机氯的脂肪组织的合适替代物，因为血液浓度合理地反映了配对脂肪样本中观察到的浓度。然而，以湿质量为基础计算的血液有机氯浓度与脂肪样本中的脂质含量显著负相关。因此，在监测空间或时间趋势时应谨慎，因为在脂肪储备动员期间，例如在长途迁徙、繁殖或疾病事件期间，血液中的有机氯水平可能会升高。
