UMR7206, Eco-Anthropologie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle/CNRS/Paris, 17 Place du Trocadéro, Paris, France.
Sebitoli Chimpanzee Project, Great Ape Conservation Project, Fort Portal, Uganda.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Nov;30(51):110600-110611. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-30187-3. Epub 2023 Oct 4.
Agriculture expansion is a major cause of habitat loss and exposure to phytochemical pollution for non-human primates. In addition to endocrine disruption, exposure to pesticides may have other sublethal physiological consequences for animals, such as generation of oxidative damage to macromolecules. In this study, we analyzed the pesticides contained in the river water across the home range of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in Sebitoli area located on the Northern part of Kibale National Park (Uganda). We tested whether levels of three urinary markers of oxidative damage vary among individuals in relation to their ranging patterns, as a proxy for pesticide exposure intensity. To better characterize the foraging habitat use, the trophic level, and the energetic status of study individuals, we also quantified urinary levels of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures and of C-peptide. Among the 511 pesticides screened, 18 compounds including herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides were found in the water sampled in the Western part of the home range of chimpanzees. In this area, chimpanzees used to feed on maize crops. By contrast, in the Eastern part where crop feeding was never observed, we found only seven pesticides. According to their ranging patterns and thus crop feeding frequency, the 139 urine samples collected from 43 Sebitoli chimpanzees were categorized as belonging to low, medium, and high exposure level. Chimpanzees from the high exposure zone had higher oxidative DNA damage (8-OHdG) than chimpanzees from both the low and medium exposure groups, who had similar levels of oxidative DNA damage. In addition, individuals with higher C-peptide tended to have significantly higher oxidative DNA damage and lipid peroxides. The three exposure groups had similar levels of urinary 8-isoprostanes and of urinary lipid peroxides. These results were robust for any potential confounding effect of other variables because neither age category nor sex or isotope levels were significantly associated with markers of oxidative damage. Our study points to genotoxic effects as one potential sublethal consequence of ranging in proximity of agricultural fields owing to exposure to pesticides or other unidentified sources of stress. Given our phylogenetic proximity, this information is relevant for the conservation of this species which is endangered and also sentinel for human health.
农业扩张是导致非人类灵长类动物栖息地丧失和暴露于植物化学污染物的主要原因。除了内分泌干扰外，接触农药可能对动物产生其他亚致死的生理后果，例如对大分子产生氧化损伤。在这项研究中，我们分析了位于基巴莱国家公园（乌干达）北部 Sebitoli 地区野生黑猩猩（Pan troglodytes）栖息地范围内河流水中的农药。我们测试了个体的三种尿液氧化损伤标志物的水平是否因觅食模式而有所不同，作为接触农药强度的替代指标。为了更好地描述觅食栖息地的利用、营养水平和研究个体的能量状态，我们还定量了尿液中碳和氮稳定同位素特征和 C 肽的水平。在所筛选的 511 种农药中，在黑猩猩栖息地的西部范围内采集的水样中发现了 18 种化合物，包括除草剂、杀虫剂和杀菌剂。在这个区域，黑猩猩曾经以玉米作物为食。相比之下，在从未观察到作物觅食的东部区域，我们只发现了七种农药。根据他们的觅食模式和因此的作物觅食频率，从 43 只 Sebitoli 黑猩猩中收集的 139 个尿液样本被归类为低、中、高暴露水平。来自高暴露区的黑猩猩的氧化 DNA 损伤（8-OHdG）高于来自低和中暴露组的黑猩猩，后者的氧化 DNA 损伤水平相似。此外，C 肽水平较高的个体的氧化 DNA 损伤和脂质过氧化物水平显著较高。三个暴露组的尿液 8-异前列腺素和尿液脂质过氧化物水平相似。由于其他变量的潜在混杂影响，这些结果是稳健的，因为年龄类别、性别或同位素水平与氧化损伤标志物均无显著关联。我们的研究表明，由于接触农药或其他未识别的应激源，在靠近农田的范围内觅食可能导致遗传毒性影响，这是一种潜在的亚致死后果。鉴于我们在进化上的亲缘关系，这一信息与保护这种濒危物种以及作为人类健康哨兵的物种有关。
