Persistent organic pollutants in green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) inhabiting two urbanized Southern California habitats

Arthur D Barraza; Lisa M Komoroske; Camryn D Allen; Tomoharu Eguchi; Rich Gossett; Erika Holland; Daniel D Lawson; Robin A LeRoux; Varenka Lorenzi; Jeffrey A Seminoff; Christopher G Lowe

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.110979

Persistent organic pollutants in green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) inhabiting two urbanized Southern California habitats

Mar Pollut Bull. 2020 Apr:153:110979. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.110979. Epub 2020 Feb 29.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, USA. Electronic address: Arthur.Barraza@Griffithuni.edu.au.
² Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, La Jolla, CA, USA; Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA.
³ Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, La Jolla, CA, USA; The Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Protected Species Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Honolulu, HI, USA.
⁴ Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁵ Institute for Integrated Research on Materials, Environment, and Society, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, USA.
⁶ Department of Biological Sciences, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, USA.
⁷ Long Beach Regional Office, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Long Beach, CA, USA.

Abstract

Within Southern California, east Pacific green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) forage year-round, taking advantage of diverse food resources, including seagrass, marine algae, and invertebrates. Assessing persistent organic pollutants (POP) in green turtle aggregations in the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge (SBNWR, n = 17) and San Diego Bay (SDB, n = 25) can help quantify contamination risks for these populations. Blood plasma was analyzed for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorinated pesticides (OCPs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). PCBs and body size explained much of the separation of turtles by foraging aggregation in a principal component analysis. Turtles from SDB had significantly (p < 0.001) higher total PCBs than SBNWR turtles. Most PCBs detected in turtles were non-dioxin-like PCB congeners (153, 138, 99) that are associated with neurotoxicity. Recaptured turtles' POP levels changed significantly over time indicating significant variation in POP levels through time and space, even among adjacent foraging locations.

Keywords: Chelonia mydas; Marine turtles; Organochlorinated pesticides; Persistent organic pollutants; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Urbanized habitats.

MeSH terms

Animals
California
Ecosystem
Environmental Monitoring*
Organic Chemicals / metabolism
Polychlorinated Biphenyls / metabolism
Turtles / metabolism*
Water Pollutants, Chemical / metabolism*

Substances

Organic Chemicals
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Polychlorinated Biphenyls

Grants and funding

R25 GM071638/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States