PMID- 38128600
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20240219
LR  - 20240219
IS  - 1096-0953 (Electronic)
IS  - 0013-9351 (Linking)
VI  - 244
DP  - 2024 Mar 1
TI  - Assessment of persistent organic pollutants in killer whales (Orcinus orca) of 
      the Canadian Arctic: Implications for subsistence consumption and conservation 
      strategies.
PG  - 117992
LID - S0013-9351(23)02796-2 [pii]
LID - 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117992 [doi]
AB  - Killer whales (Orcinus orca) historically restricted to certain Arctic regions 
      due to extensive sea ice have recently been documented farther north and for 
      longer durations in the Canadian Arctic. These apex predators accumulate high 
      levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The objective of this study was 
      to evaluate the concentrations and profiles of POPs in killer whales of the 
      Canadian Arctic, thus determining potential risks for Inuit communities if 
      consumed. Biopsies were collected from 33 killer whales across areas of the 
      Canadian Arctic between 2009 and 2021. Significant variability in POP 
      concentrations was observed among whales. The cumulative POP concentrations 
      ranged from 12 to >2270 mg/kg lw, representing  approximately 200-fold increase from the least 
      to the most contaminated individual. The rank order of concentrations of the top 
      five contaminant classes was  summation operatorDDT,  summation operatorPCB,  summation operatorCHL,  summation operatorToxaphene, and Dieldrin. Several 
      emerging Arctic contaminants were detected, including chlorpyrifos, endosulfan, 
      pentachloroanisole, and polychlorinated naphthalenes, although at relatively 
      lower concentrations than legacy POPs. Considering the elevated blubber POP 
      levels in killer whales, recommended daily consumption thresholds, established 
      based on human tolerable daily intake (TDI) values, were notably restricted for 
       summation operatorPCB (<0.14 g),  summation operatorDDT (<6.9 g),  summation operatorCHL (<13 g), dieldrin (<8 g) and heptachlor 
      epoxide (<5 g). Killer whales in the Canadian Arctic exhibited higher POP 
      concentrations than other commonly hunted species such as polar bears, ringed 
      seals, and Arctic char. We acknowledge that a more holistic risk assessment of 
      diet is required to assess the cumulative impacts of contaminant mixtures as well 
      as nutritional quality of tissues commonly consumed by northern communities.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
FAU - Desforges, Jean-Pierre
AU  - Desforges JP
AD  - Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences, University of Winnipeg, 
      Winnipeg, Canada. Electronic address: j.desforges@uwinnipeg.ca.
FAU - Ferguson, Steven H
AU  - Ferguson SH
AD  - Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Winnipeg, Canada.
FAU - Remili, Anais
AU  - Remili A
AD  - Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, 
      Canada.
FAU - McKinney, Melissa A
AU  - McKinney MA
AD  - Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, 
      Canada.
FAU - Watt, Cortney A
AU  - Watt CA
AD  - Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Winnipeg, Canada.
FAU - Matthews, Cory J D
AU  - Matthews CJD
AD  - Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Winnipeg, Canada. Electronic address: 
      Cory.Matthews@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20231219
PL  - Netherlands
TA  - Environ Res
JT  - Environmental research
JID - 0147621
RN  - 0 (Persistent Organic Pollutants)
RN  - I0246D2ZS0 (Dieldrin)
RN  - 0 (Water Pollutants, Chemical)
RN  - 0 (Environmental Pollutants)
RN  - DFC2HB4I0K (Polychlorinated Biphenyls)
SB  - IM
MH  - Animals
MH  - Humans
MH  - Environmental Monitoring
MH  - *Whale, Killer
MH  - Persistent Organic Pollutants
MH  - Canada
MH  - Dieldrin
MH  - Arctic Regions
MH  - *Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis
MH  - *Environmental Pollutants/analysis
MH  - *Polychlorinated Biphenyls
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Chemical risk assessment
OT  - Contaminants of emerging Arctic concern
OT  - Inuit harvest
OT  - Orca
OT  - Persistent organic pollutants
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- 2023/12/22 00:42
MHDA- 2024/02/19 06:43
CRDT- 2023/12/21 19:23
PHST- 2023/10/22 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2023/12/15 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2023/12/18 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2024/02/19 06:43 [medline]
PHST- 2023/12/22 00:42 [pubmed]
PHST- 2023/12/21 19:23 [entrez]
AID - S0013-9351(23)02796-2 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117992 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Environ Res. 2024 Mar 1;244:117992. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117992. Epub 2023 
      Dec 19.