Trophic Chain Organochlorine Pesticide Contamination in a Highly Productive Upwelling Area in Southeastern Brazil.
Ricardo Cavalcanti Lavandier, Jennifer Arêas, Leila Soledade Lemos, Jailson Fulgêncio de Moura, Satie Taniguchi, Rosalinda Montone, Natalia Soares Quinete, Rachel Ann Hauser-Davis, Salvatore Siciliano, Isabel Moreira
Author Information
Ricardo Cavalcanti Lavandier: Departamento de Química, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Rua Marquês de São Vicente, 225, Gávea, Rio de Janeiro 22453-900, Brazil.
Jennifer Arêas: PIBIC/Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Av. Brasil, 4.365, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, Brazil.
Leila Soledade Lemos: Institute of Environment, Florida International University, North Miami, FL 33181, USA. ORCID
Jailson Fulgêncio de Moura: Systems Ecology, Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT), Fahrenheitstrasse 6, 28359 Bremen, Germany.
Satie Taniguchi: Instituto Oceanográfico, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Praça do Oceanográfico, 191, Butantã, São Paulo 05508-120, Brazil.
Rosalinda Montone: Instituto Oceanográfico, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Praça do Oceanográfico, 191, Butantã, São Paulo 05508-120, Brazil. ORCID
Natalia Soares Quinete: Institute of Environment, Florida International University, North Miami, FL 33181, USA.
Rachel Ann Hauser-Davis: Laboratório de Avaliação e Promoção da Saúde Ambiental, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Av. Brasil, 4.365, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, Brazil. ORCID
Salvatore Siciliano: Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública/Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rua Leopoldo Bulhões, 1.480, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 20911-300, Brazil. ORCID
Isabel Moreira: Departamento de Química, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Rua Marquês de São Vicente, 225, Gávea, Rio de Janeiro 22453-900, Brazil.
Organochlorine pesticides (OCP) are legacy anthropogenic compounds known to persist for several years in the environment. The continuous use of some OCP, such as DDT, after restrictions in developing countries are cause of concern, due to their deleterious effects to marine life and humans. Studies assessing OCP contamination in coastal environments are still scarce in South America and there is a need to understand the impacts from trophic chain accumulation of these pollutants in marine life. In this study, we have assessed OCP levels in muscle and liver and estimated the biomagnification factor in several upwelling system trophic chain members, including fish, squid, and marine mammal from Southeastern Brazil. DDT degradation product DDE was the OCP detected in the highest concentrations in Franciscana dolphins (), 86.4 ng·g wet weight, and fish muscle and liver. In general, higher OCP levels were found in liver than in muscle, except for croaker. Biomagnification factors (BMF) of OCP in the top predator and the carnivorous cutlass fish () were on average between 0.2 and 1.8. Continued OCP monitoring in this region is warranted to better understand the distribution and fate of these compounds over time, with the goal to establish strategies for the conservation of local dolphin species and to assess human health risks from local coastal region populations.
