Hoseini Seyedeh Malihe, Namroodi Somayeh, Sayadshirazi Amir, Zaccaroni Annalisa
Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Gorgan 4913815739, Iran.
Caspian Seal Conservation Center, Ashooradeh Island, Iran.
Toxics. 2022 Dec 30;11(1):39. doi: 10.3390/toxics11010039.
The Caspian seal () is an endangered species that only lives in the Caspian Sea. Little information is available on its exposure to contaminants, and no data exists for Southern sub-populations. From 2011 to 2016, tissues samples were collected from 20 Caspian seals to (i) Define the concentration of trace elements in five different matrices and the concentration of 30 pesticides in their blubber; (ii) Determine whether differences in contaminant concentrations are age- or sex-related; (iii) Evaluate if detected concentrations can represent a risk to the species. Age- and sex-related variations were detected for Zn and Hg in the blubber and Fe in the kidney by age only. Exceptionally high Hg concentrations and low levels of hepatic Zn were detected, raising some concern about the reproductive health of seals. Similarly, the DDTs levels detected were in the range of adverse reproductive effects in marine mammals. Based on these results, potentially adverse effects on the immune and endocrine systems of the Caspian seal cannot be ruled out. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that pollutant monitoring becomes an integral component of conservation strategies for the Caspian seal.
里海海豹（）是一种仅生活在里海的濒危物种。关于其接触污染物的信息很少，而且没有关于南部亚种群的数据。2011年至2016年期间，从20只里海海豹身上采集了组织样本，以（i）确定五种不同基质中微量元素的浓度以及其脂肪中30种农药的浓度；（ii）确定污染物浓度的差异是否与年龄或性别有关；（iii）评估检测到的浓度是否会对该物种构成风险。仅在脂肪中的锌和汞以及肾脏中的铁中检测到了与年龄和性别相关的差异。检测到汞浓度异常高而肝脏锌水平低，这引起了对海豹生殖健康的一些担忧。同样，检测到的滴滴涕水平处于对海洋哺乳动物产生不良生殖影响的范围内。基于这些结果，不能排除对里海海豹的免疫和内分泌系统产生潜在不利影响的可能性。因此，污染物监测成为里海海豹保护策略的一个组成部分至关重要。
