PMID- 38011905 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20231216 LR - 20231216 IS - 1520-5851 (Electronic) IS - 0013-936X (Print) IS - 0013-936X (Linking) VI - 57 IP - 49 DP - 2023 Dec 12 TI - Spatiotemporal Trends Spanning Three Decades Show Toxic Levels of Chemical Contaminants in Marine Mammals. PG - 20736-20749 LID - 10.1021/acs.est.3c01881 [doi] AB - Despite their ban and restriction under the 2001 Stockholm Convention, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are still widespread and pervasive in the environment. Releases of these toxic and bioaccumulative chemicals are ongoing, and their contribution to population declines of marine mammals is of global concern. To safeguard their survival, it is of paramount importance to understand the effectiveness of mitigation measures. Using one of the world's largest marine mammals strandings data sets, we combine published and unpublished data to examine pollutant concentrations in 11 species that stranded along the coast of Great Britain to quantify spatiotemporal trends over three decades and identify species and regions where pollutants pose the greatest threat. We find that although levels of pollutants have decreased overall, there is significant spatial and taxonomic heterogeneity such that pollutants remain a threat to biodiversity in several species and regions. Of individuals sampled within the most recent five years (2014-2018), 48% of individuals exhibited a concentration known to exceed toxic thresholds. Notably, pollutant concentrations are highest in long-lived, apex odontocetes (e.g., killer whales (Orcinus orca), bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), and white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris)) and were significantly higher in animals that stranded on more industrialized coastlines. At the present concentrations, POPs are likely to be significantly impacting marine mammal health. We conclude that more effective international elimination and mitigation strategies are urgently needed to address this critical issue for the global ocean health. FAU - Williams, Rosie S AU - Williams RS AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-1801-8092 AD - Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, United Kingdom. AD - Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Darwin Building, 99-105 Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom. FAU - Brownlow, Andrew AU - Brownlow A AD - School of Biodiversity One Health and Veterinary Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom. FAU - Baillie, Andrew AU - Baillie A AD - The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom. FAU - Barber, Jonathan L AU - Barber JL AD - Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Pakefield Road, Lowestoft NR33 0HT, United Kingdom. FAU - Barnett, James AU - Barnett J AD - Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Falmouth, Cornwall TR10 9FE, United Kingdom. FAU - Davison, Nicholas J AU - Davison NJ AD - School of Biodiversity One Health and Veterinary Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom. FAU - Deaville, Robert AU - Deaville R AD - Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, United Kingdom. FAU - Ten Doeschate, Mariel AU - Ten Doeschate M AD - School of Biodiversity One Health and Veterinary Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom. FAU - Murphy, Sinead AU - Murphy S AD - Marine and Freshwater Research Centre, Department of Natural Science, School of Science and Computing, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway H91 T8NW, Ireland. FAU - Penrose, Rod AU - Penrose R AD - Marine Environmental Monitoring, Penwalk, Llechryd, Cardigan, Ceredigion SA43 2PS, United Kingdom. FAU - Perkins, Matthew AU - Perkins M AD - Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, United Kingdom. FAU - Spiro, Simon AU - Spiro S AD - Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, United Kingdom. FAU - Williams, Ruth AU - Williams R AD - Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Truro, Cornwall TR4 9DJ, United Kingdom. FAU - Jepson, Paul D AU - Jepson PD AD - Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, United Kingdom. FAU - Curnick, David J AU - Curnick DJ AD - Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, United Kingdom. FAU - Jobling, Susan AU - Jobling S AD - Department of Life Sciences, Institute of Health, Medicine and Environments, Brunel University London, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, United Kingdom. LA - eng PT - Journal Article DEP - 20231127 PL - United States TA - Environ Sci Technol JT - Environmental science & technology JID - 0213155 RN - 0 (Water Pollutants, Chemical) RN - 0 (Environmental Pollutants) RN - DFC2HB4I0K (Polychlorinated Biphenyls) SB - IM MH - Animals MH - *Water Pollutants, Chemical/toxicity MH - *Environmental Pollutants MH - *Bottle-Nosed Dolphin MH - *Whale, Killer MH - *Caniformia MH - *Polychlorinated Biphenyls MH - Environmental Monitoring PMC - PMC10720377 OTO - NOTNLM OT - PCBs OT - POPs OT - cetaceans OT - ecotoxicology OT - marine mammals OT - persistent organic pollutants OT - polychlorinated biphenyls OT - temporal trend COIS- The authors declare no competing financial interest. EDAT- 2023/11/28 00:42 MHDA- 2023/12/17 10:19 PMCR- 2023/12/14 CRDT- 2023/11/27 20:03 PHST- 2023/12/17 10:19 [medline] PHST- 2023/11/28 00:42 [pubmed] PHST- 2023/11/27 20:03 [entrez] PHST- 2023/12/14 00:00 [pmc-release] AID - 10.1021/acs.est.3c01881 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Environ Sci Technol. 2023 Dec 12;57(49):20736-20749. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.3c01881. Epub 2023 Nov 27.