Issues - Dolphin Deaths
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Research
Aguilar Publishes Research on Organochlorines in Dolphins
Pew Fellow Alex Aguilar and his colleague Asuncion Borrell have published new research that details 15 years of research into organochlorine contamination of western Mediterranean striped dolphins.
Organochlorines, synthetic compounds used primarily in pesticides and industrial materials, have contaminated the tissues of many marine species. These substances are very stable and persistent in the environment, and are implicated in many serious adverse effects to animals, including immune system dysfunctions, infections, reproductive problems, and lesions. The general trend of contamination over the study period was downward, which matches the declining use over time of organochlorines. However, the authors point out that "organochlorine tissue concentration still present in most Mediterranean dolphins is much higher than the threshold levels above which adverse effects have been experimentally observed in mammals."
SOURCE: FINS, the newsletter of ACCOBAMS (Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area),
June 2005;
http://www.accobams.org/download/newsletter/FINS_2_1.pdf.
REFERENCE: Aguilar A., Borrell A. DDT and PCB reduction in the western Mediterranean in 1987-2002, as shown by levels in dolphins.
Marine Environmental Research 59(4):391-404, June 2005;
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01411136.
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