Global Center for Aquatic Health and Food Security, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA; Department of Pathobiology and Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA.
Center for Environmental Health Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA; Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA.
Sci Total Environ. 2024 Dec 1;954:176747. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176747. Epub 2024 Oct 6.
Cetaceans are regarded as a sentinel species because their health and population changes can serve as indicators of effects on marine ecosystems. We characterized levels of 24 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and 7 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in blubber, kidney, liver, and muscle of 138 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) that stranded in the Mississippi Sound (MSS) between 2010 and 2021. The samples were divided into four time periods: 2010-2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, to assess whether there was a significant association between chemical levels in dolphin tissues and the 2019 unusual mortality event (UME) in the MSS resulting from the unprecedented freshwater incursion from 2 openings of the Bonnet Carré Spillway (BCS). We found 7 PCBs were readily detected in all tissues across time, and the major PAH was naphthalene, with detection of biphenyl and acenaphthene at lower levels and frequency. There was little change in tissue PCB levels over time; only naphthalene in the blubber was higher in tissues from dolphins that stranded before 2019. However, there were not significant changes in chemical levels in tissues from stranded bottlenose dolphins in the MSS before or after the UME in 2019.
鲸类动物被视为指示物种，因为它们的健康状况和种群变化可以作为海洋生态系统影响的指标。我们对 2010 年至 2021 年期间在密西西比湾搁浅的 138 只宽吻海豚（Tursiops truncatus）的鲸脂、肾脏、肝脏和肌肉中的 24 种多环芳烃（PAHs）和 7 种多氯联苯（PCBs）进行了特征描述。这些样本分为四个时期：2010-2018 年、2019 年、2020 年和 2021 年，以评估海豚组织中的化学物质水平与 2019 年密西西比湾异常死亡事件（UME）之间是否存在显著关联，该事件是由于博内尔卡雷泄洪道（BCS）的两个开口前所未有的淡水入侵而导致的。我们发现，7 种 PCBs 在所有组织中都能在所有时间内被轻易检测到，主要的 PAH 是萘，联苯和苊烯的检测水平和频率较低。随着时间的推移，组织中 PCB 水平几乎没有变化；只有在 2019 年之前搁浅的海豚的鲸脂中萘的含量更高。然而，在 2019 年 UME 之前或之后，密西西比湾搁浅的宽吻海豚组织中的化学物质水平没有明显变化。
