Pharmaceutical residues in stranded dolphins in the Bay of Biscay

Abstract

There is a growing concern about the presence of pharmaceuticals on the aquatic environment, while the marine environment has been much less investigated than in freshwater. Marine mammals are suitable sentinel species of the marine environment because they often feed at high trophic levels, have unique fat stores and long life-span. Some small delphinids in particular serve as excellent sentinel species for contamination in the marine environment worldwide. To the best of our knowledge, no pharmaceuticals have been detected or reported in dolphins so far.In the present study, muscle, liver and blubber samples from three common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) and seven striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) stranded along the Basque Coast (northern Spain) were collected. A total of 95 pharmaceuticals based on detectability and predicted ability to bioaccumulate in fish were included in the liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis.At least one pharmaceutical was found in 70 % of the individuals. Only three of the 95 monitored pharma-ceuticals were detected in dolphin's tissues. Very low concentrations (<1 ng/g) of orphenadrine and pizotifen were found in liver and promethazine in blubber.Herein, the gap in the knowledge regarding the study organisms and marine environments with respect to pharmaceutical pollution, which demands further research to understand if pharmaceuticals are a threat for these apex predators, is highlighted and discussed.

Keywords

Marine environment; Dolphins; Bioaccumulation; Biomagnification; Pharmaceuticals

Published in

Science of the Total Environment
2024, volume: 912, article number: 168570

SLU Authors

• Cerveny, Daniel

  • Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • University of South Bohemia Ceske Budejovice

• Brodin, Tomas

  • Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Global goals (SDG)

SDG6 Clean water and sanitation
SDG14 Life below water

UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168570

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/127838