Alternative and legacy flame retardants in marine mammals from three northern ocean regions

Michelle L Berger; Susan D Shaw; Charles B Rolsky; Da Chen; Jiachen Sun; Aqqalu Rosing-Asvid; Sandra Magdalena Granquist; Malene Simon; Britt-Marie Bäcklin; Anna Maria Roos

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122255

Alternative and legacy flame retardants in marine mammals from three northern ocean regions

Environ Pollut. 2023 Oct 15:335:122255. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122255. Epub 2023 Jul 28.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Shaw Institute, PO Box 1652, 55 Main Street, Blue Hill, ME, 04614, USA. Electronic address: mberger@shawinstitute.org.
² Shaw Institute, PO Box 1652, 55 Main Street, Blue Hill, ME, 04614, USA.
³ School of Environment and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510632, China; Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory and Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 62901, USA.
⁴ School of Environment and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510632, China; College of Marine Life Science, Ocean University of China, CN-266003, Qingdao, China.
⁵ Greenland Climate Research Centre, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Kivioq 2, PO Box 570, 3900, Nuuk, Greenland.
⁶ Seal Research Department, The Icelandic Seal Center, Höfðabraut 6, 530 Hvammstangi, Iceland; Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, Fornubúðir 5, 220 Hafnarfjörður, Iceland.
⁷ Department of Environmental Research and Monitoring, Swedish Museum of Natural History, PO Box 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden.
⁸ Greenland Climate Research Centre, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Kivioq 2, PO Box 570, 3900, Nuuk, Greenland; Department of Environmental Research and Monitoring, Swedish Museum of Natural History, PO Box 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden.

PMID: 37517638
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122255

Abstract

Flame retardants are globally distributed contaminants that have been linked to negative health effects in humans and wildlife. As top predators, marine mammals bioaccumulate flame retardants and other contaminants in their tissues which is one of many human-imposed factors threatening population health. While some flame retardants, such as the polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), have been banned because of known toxicity and environmental persistence, limited data exist on the presence and distribution of current-use alternative flame retardants in marine mammals from many industrialized and remote regions of the world. Therefore, this study measured 44 legacy and alternative flame retardants in nine marine mammal species from three ocean regions: the Northwest Atlantic, the Arctic, and the Baltic allowing for regional, species, age, body condition, temporal, and tissue comparisons to help understand global patterns. PBDE concentrations were 100-1000 times higher than the alternative brominated flame retardants (altBFRs) and Dechloranes. 2,2',4,5,5'-pentabromobiphenyl (BB-101) and hexabromobenzene (HBBZ) were the predominant altBFRs, while Dechlorane-602 was the predominant Dechlorane. This manuscript also reports only the second detection of hexachlorocyclopentadienyl-dibromocyclooctane (HCDBCO) in marine mammals. The NW Atlantic had the highest PBDE concentrations followed by the Baltic and Arctic which reflects greater historical use of PBDEs in North America compared to Europe and greater industrialization of North America and Baltic countries compared to the Arctic. Regional patterns for other compounds were more complicated, and there were significant interactions among species, regions, body condition and age class. Lipid-normalized PBDE concentrations in harbor seal liver and blubber were similar, but HBBZ and many Dechloranes had higher concentrations in liver, indicating factors other than lipid dynamics affect the distribution of these compounds. The health implications of contamination by this mixture of compounds are of concern and require further research.

Keywords: Cetaceans; Inter-species comparison; Novel flame retardants; Pinnipeds; Regional comparison; Tissue distribution.

MeSH terms

Animals
Environmental Monitoring*
Flame Retardants* / analysis
Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / analysis
Humans
Lipids
Mammals
Oceans and Seas

Substances

pentabromodiphenyl ether
Flame Retardants
Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers
hexabromobenzene
Lipids