The Risk of Polychlorinated Biphenyls Facilitating Tumors in Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas)

Muting Yan; Huayue Nie; Wenjing Wang; Yumei Huang; Qing X Li; Jun Wang

doi:10.3390/ijerph15061243

The Risk of Polychlorinated Biphenyls Facilitating Tumors in Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas)

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Jun 12;15(6):1243. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15061243.

Authors

Muting Yan^{1

2}, Huayue Nie^{3

4}, Wenjing Wang^{5

6}, Yumei Huang^{7

8}, Qing X Li⁹, Jun Wang^{10

11

12}

Affiliations

¹ College of Marine Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. marineymt@scau.edu.cn.
² Joint Laboratory of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong Region on Marine Bioresource Conservation and Exploitation, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. marineymt@scau.edu.cn.
³ College of Marine Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. hynhy@stu.scau.edu.cn.
⁴ Joint Laboratory of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong Region on Marine Bioresource Conservation and Exploitation, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. hynhy@stu.scau.edu.cn.
⁵ College of Marine Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. wenjing1379@163.com.
⁶ Joint Laboratory of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong Region on Marine Bioresource Conservation and Exploitation, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. wenjing1379@163.com.
⁷ College of Marine Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. huangyumei@scau.edu.cn.
⁸ Joint Laboratory of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong Region on Marine Bioresource Conservation and Exploitation, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. huangyumei@scau.edu.cn.
⁹ Department of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA. qingl@hawaii.edu.
¹⁰ College of Marine Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. wangjun2016@scau.edu.cn.
¹¹ Joint Laboratory of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong Region on Marine Bioresource Conservation and Exploitation, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. wangjun2016@scau.edu.cn.
¹² Department of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA. wangjun2016@scau.edu.cn.

Abstract

The Hawaiian green turtle (Chelonia mydas) is on the list of threatened species protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1978 in large part due to a severe tumor-forming disease named fibropapillomatosis. Chemical pollution is a prime suspect threatening the survival of C. mydas. In this study, PCBs concentrations were determined in 43 C. mydas plasma samples archived on Tern Island. The total PCBs concentration in male C. mydas (mean 1.10 ng/mL) was two times more than that of females (mean 0.43 ng/mL). The relationship between straight carapace length and PCBs concentration in females has also been studied, which was negatively related. To figure out the possible existence of correlations between PCBs and tumor status, we measured the PCBs concentration in turtles with no tumor, moderate or severe tumor affliction. PCBs concentration of two afflicted groups was much higher than the healthy group, suggesting that PCBs may play a role in fibropapillomatosis in Hawaiian green turtle.

Keywords: Hawaiian green turtle; PCBs; fibropapillomatosis; tumor.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Case-Control Studies
Female
Hawaii
Male
Neoplasms / chemically induced
Neoplasms / veterinary*
Polychlorinated Biphenyls / analysis
Polychlorinated Biphenyls / toxicity*
Risk
Turtles*
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis
Water Pollutants, Chemical / toxicity*
Water Pollution, Chemical / adverse effects*

Substances

Water Pollutants, Chemical
Polychlorinated Biphenyls