Lead contamination of small cetaceans in European waters - The use of stable isotopes for identifying the sources of lead exposure

Type Article
Date 2006-08
Language English
Author(s) Caurant Florence1, Aubail A1, 7, Lahaye V1, 7, Van Canneyt O2, Rogan E3, Lopez A4, Addink M5, Churlaud C6, Robert M6, Bustamante Paco1
Affiliation(s) 1 : Univ La Rochelle, CNRS, IFREMER, UMR 6217,Ctr Rech Ecosyst Littoraux Anthropises, F-17042 La Rochelle, France.
2 : Ctr Rech Mammiferes Marins, Inst Mer & Littoral, F-17000 La Rochelle, France.
3 : Natl Univ Ireland Univ Coll Cork, Dept Zool Ecol & Plant Sci, Aquaculture Dev Ctr, Cork, Ireland.
4 : IIM, E-36208 Vigo, Spain.
5 : Natl Museum Nat Hist, NL-2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands.
6 : Univ La Rochelle, Ctr Commun Anal, F-17071 La Rochelle 9, France.
Source Marine Environmental Research (0141-1136) (Elsevier), 2006-08 , Vol. 62 , N. 2 , P. 131-148
DOI 10.1016/j.marenvres.2006.03.007
WOS© Times Cited 26
Keyword(s) Lead, Hard tissues, Heavy metals, Harbour porpoises, Striped dolphins, Common dolphins, Northeast Atlantic, Temporal trends, Biomonitoring
Abstract Lead concentrations and isotopic composition have been measured in bone and teeth of small cetaceans belonging to three species (Delphinus delphis, Phocoena phocoena and Stenella coeruleoalba), to evaluate the toxicological risk and to determine sources of lead in the European waters. Lead concentrations, far lower than threshold value inducing toxic effects in human, were higher in teeth than in bones, but highly correlated between the two tissues (r = 0.92, p < 0.001). Large variations of Pb-206/Pb-207 values in bone tissue showed that cetaceans must be submitted to various atmospheric influences. No geographical differences appeared which is consistent with studies on their distribution indicating seasonal movements between Brittany waters and the Bay of Biscay. The negative correlation between Pb-206/Pb-207 ratios and age of the individuals reflected the decrease in the production of alkyl lead in Europe, i.e., the increasing use of unleaded gasoline. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Caurant Florence, Aubail A, Lahaye V, Van Canneyt O, Rogan E, Lopez A, Addink M, Churlaud C, Robert M, Bustamante Paco (2006). Lead contamination of small cetaceans in European waters - The use of stable isotopes for identifying the sources of lead exposure. Marine Environmental Research, 62(2), 131-148. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2006.03.007 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/1813/