PMID- 33517007 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20210318 LR - 20210318 IS - 1879-1026 (Electronic) IS - 0048-9697 (Linking) VI - 770 DP - 2021 May 20 TI - Persistence, bioaccumulation and vertical transfer of pollutants in long-finned pilot whales stranded in Chilean Patagonia. PG - 145259 LID - S0048-9697(21)00325-9 [pii] LID - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145259 [doi] AB - Long-finned pilot whales (LFPW) are cetaceans with strong social groups often involved in mass strandings worldwide. However, these beachings occur for reasons that are not fully understood. In 2016, 124 LFPW were stranded on the Chilean Patagonian islands, offering a unique opportunity to obtain crucial information on the ecology, biology, and genetics of this population. In addition, we examined whether persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and trace elements (TEs) were responsible for this mass mortality. Stable isotopes (delta(13)C & delta(15)N) and genetic analyses were used to reconstruct the trophic ecology, social structure, and kinship of LFPW and compared to POPs and TEs levels found in LFPW. Mitochondrial DNA analyses on 71 individuals identified four maternal lineages within the stranded LFPW. Of these animals, 32 individuals were analyzed for a suite of POPs, TEs, and lipid content in blubber. The highest levels were found for SigmaDDXs (6 isomers) (542.46 +/- 433.46 ng/g, lw) and for total Hg (2.79 +/- 1.91 mg/kg, dw). However, concentrations found in these LFPW were lower than toxicity thresholds and those reported for LFPW stranded in other regions. Evidence was found of SigmaDDX, Sigma7PCBs, and Cd bioaccumulation and maternal transfer of POPs in mother/offspring groups. Nevertheless, no clear relationship between contaminant concentrations and LFPW mortality was established. Further research is still needed to assess LFPW populations including conservations status and exposure to chemicals in remote areas such as Patagonia. CI - Copyright (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. FAU - Garcia-Cegarra, Ana M AU - Garcia-Cegarra AM AD - Centro de Investigacion de Fauna Marina y Avistamiento de Cetaceos (CIFAMAC), Mejillones, Chile; Departamento de Ciencias Basicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Santo Tomas, Antofagasta, Chile. Electronic address: albatracu@gmail.com. FAU - Jung, Jean-Luc AU - Jung JL AD - Universite de Brest, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle,CNRS, Sorbonne Universite, ISYEB, F-29200 Brest, France. FAU - Orrego, Rodrigo AU - Orrego R AD - Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory (AQUATOX), University of Antofagasta, Chile. FAU - Padilha, Janeide de A AU - Padilha JA AD - Radiositopes Lab, Biophysics Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. FAU - Malm, Olaf AU - Malm O AD - Radiositopes Lab, Biophysics Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. FAU - Ferreira-Braz, Bernardo AU - Ferreira-Braz B AD - Department of Analytical Chemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. FAU - Santelli, Ricardo E AU - Santelli RE AD - Department of Analytical Chemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. FAU - Pozo, Karla AU - Pozo K AD - Recetox (Research Center for Toxic Compounds in the Environment), Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Czech Republic; Faculty of Engineering and Technology, San Sebastian University, Concepcion, Chile. FAU - Pribylova, Petra AU - Pribylova P AD - Recetox (Research Center for Toxic Compounds in the Environment), Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Czech Republic. FAU - Alvarado-Rybak, Mario AU - Alvarado-Rybak M AD - Sustainability Research Center & PhD Program in Conservation Medicine, Life Science Faculty, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile. FAU - Azat, Claudio AU - Azat C AD - Sustainability Research Center & PhD Program in Conservation Medicine, Life Science Faculty, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile. FAU - Kidd, Karen A AU - Kidd KA AD - Department of Biology & School of Earth, Environment and Society, McMaster University, Canada. FAU - Espejo, Winfred AU - Espejo W AD - Department of Animal Science, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad de Concepcion, Casilla 537, Chillan, Chile. FAU - Chiang, Gustavo AU - Chiang G AD - Sustainability Research Center & PhD Program in Conservation Medicine, Life Science Faculty, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile; MaREA, Laboratorio de Ecologia y Salud Acuatica, Nunoa, Santiago, Chile. FAU - Bahamonde, Paulina AU - Bahamonde P AD - Laboratory of Aquatic Environmental Research, Centro de Estudios Avanzados - HUB Ambiental UPLA, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaiso, Chile.. Electronic address: paulina.bahamonde@upla.cl. LA - eng PT - Journal Article DEP - 20210121 PL - Netherlands TA - Sci Total Environ JT - The Science of the total environment JID - 0330500 RN - 0 (Environmental Pollutants) RN - 0 (Water Pollutants, Chemical) SB - IM MH - Animals MH - Bioaccumulation MH - Chile MH - Environmental Monitoring MH - *Environmental Pollutants MH - *Fin Whale MH - *Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis MH - *Whales, Pilot OTO - NOTNLM OT - Chilean Patagonia OT - Globicephala melas OT - Mass stranding OT - Persistent organic pollutants OT - Trace elements COIS- Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. EDAT- 2021/02/01 06:00 MHDA- 2021/03/19 06:00 CRDT- 2021/01/31 20:29 PHST- 2020/08/07 00:00 [received] PHST- 2020/12/21 00:00 [revised] PHST- 2021/01/14 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2021/02/01 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2021/03/19 06:00 [medline] PHST- 2021/01/31 20:29 [entrez] AID - S0048-9697(21)00325-9 [pii] AID - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145259 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Sci Total Environ. 2021 May 20;770:145259. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145259. Epub 2021 Jan 21.