Department of Wildlife Management, North Slope Borough, Box 69, Barrow, AK 99723, USA; Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 902 N. Koyukuk Dr., P.O. Box 757000, Fairbanks, AK 99775-70, USA.
Environmental and Fisheries Sciences Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2725 Montlake Blvd East, Seattle, WA 98112, USA.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2018 May;130:311-323. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.02.040. Epub 2018 Apr 6.
Oil spills of unknown origin were detected in three oil-fouled, ice-associated seals from the Alaska Bering Strait region collected by Alaska Native subsistence hunters during fall 2012. Bile analyses of two oiled seals indicated exposure to fluorescent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) metabolites but levels of some metabolites were similar to or lower than biliary levels in harvested unoiled ice seals. Oiled seals had elevated tissue PAH concentrations compared to tissue levels of PAHs determined in unoiled ice seals. However, regardless of oiling status, tissue PAH levels were relatively low (<50 ng/g, wet weight) likely due to rapid PAH metabolism and elimination demonstrated previously by vertebrates. Hepatic, pulmonary, and cardiac lesions were observed in oiled seals in conjunction with measurable PAHs in their tissue and bile. This is the first study to report tissue and bile PAH concentrations and pathologic findings of oiled ice seals from the U.S. Arctic.
在 2012 年秋季，阿拉斯加本土居民的狩猎者在阿拉斯加白令海峡地区收集到三只受到石油污染且与冰相关的海豹，其中三只海豹均发现来源不明的石油泄漏。对两只受污染海豹的胆汁分析表明，它们接触到了荧光多环芳烃（PAH）代谢物，但一些代谢物的水平与收获的未受污染冰海豹的胆汁水平相似或更低。与确定的未受污染冰海豹组织中的多环芳烃水平相比，受污染的海豹组织中的多环芳烃浓度较高。然而，无论是否受到污染，组织中的多环芳烃水平都相对较低（<50ng/g，湿重），这可能是由于以前脊椎动物表现出的快速多环芳烃代谢和消除。在受污染的海豹中观察到肝、肺和心脏病变，同时在其组织和胆汁中可测量到多环芳烃。这是首次报告来自美国北极地区受污染冰海豹的组织和胆汁多环芳烃浓度及病理发现的研究。
