Polychlorinated biphenyls and other chlorinated organic contaminants in the tissues of Mediterranean loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta

• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2006.11.040
• Publication Date: 2007-01-19T07:18:57Z
• Authors: M.M. Storelli; G. Barone; G.O. Marcotrigiano
• Keywords: Organochlorine compound; Polychlorinated Biphenyls; 01 natural sciences; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Turtles; 3. Good health; Italy; Mediterranean sea; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; Mediterranean Sea; Animals; Tissue Distribution; Marine turtle; Water Pollutants, Chemical; Environmental Monitoring; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

Polychlorinated biphenyls including coplanar congeners and DDT compounds were measured in different organs and tissues (liver, kidney, lung and muscle tissue) of loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta from the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The highest levels of these compounds were found in liver (PCBs: 52.32 ng/g; DDTs: 18.27 ng/g), followed by kidney (PCBs: 19.05 ng/g; DDTs: 5.70 ng/g), lung (PCBs: 12.75 ng/g; DDTs: 3.76 ng/g ) and muscle tissue (PCBs: 4.65 ng/g; DDTs: 1.45 ng/g). PCBs revealed a profile dominated by hexa-, penta- and hepta-chlorinated congeners, while among DDTs, the compound in the greatest concentration was p,p'-DDE, (liver: 85.2%, kidney: 93.6%, lung: 86.4%, muscle tissue: 93.2%). The estimated toxic equivalents (pg TEQs/g wet wt) of non- and mono-ortho PCBs were in the range of 1.54-5.86 pg TEQs/g wet wt. Non-ortho coplanar PCB 77 accounted for more than 90% of the total TEQs leaving to mono-ortho only 2.6-6.2%.