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. 2023 Jan 1;316(Pt 2):120663.
doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120663. Epub 2022 Nov 14.

An exploratory spatial contaminant assessment for polar bear (Ursus maritimus) liver, fat, and muscle from northern Canada

V Boutet  1 , M Dominique  1 , K M Eccles  2 , M Branigan  3 , M Dyck  4 , P van Coeverden de Groot  5 , S C Lougheed  5 , A Rutter  6 , V S Langlois  7
Affiliations

An exploratory spatial contaminant assessment for polar bear (Ursus maritimus) liver, fat, and muscle from northern Canada

V Boutet et al. Environ Pollut. .

Abstract

Since the industrial era, chemicals have been ubiquitous in worldwide ecosystems. Despite the discontinued release of highly toxic persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the environment, the levels of some POPs are still being measured in the Canadian Arctic. These contaminants are of great concern due to their persistence, toxicity, and levels of bioaccumulation in food chains. Animals occupying top trophic positions in the Canadian Arctic, particularly polar bears, are exposed to these contaminants mainly through their diet. Our study investigated the levels of 30 metals (including total and methyl mercury) alkaline and alkaline earth metals, 15 polycyclic aromatic compounds and their alkyl congeners (PACs), 6 chlordanes (CHLs), and 20 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), in 49 polar bears from the Canadian Arctic. Contaminant burden was measured in liver, muscle, and fat in bears of different sex, age, and locations. A principal component analysis did not distinguish differences between age and sex profiles for most contaminants. However, the concentrations measured and their distribution in the tissues confirm findings observed in past studies. This study highlights the importance of continual monitoring of polar bear health (e.g., newly detected PACs were measured within this study) and evaluating those impacts for the next generations of polar bears.

Keywords: Arctic; Metals; Persistent organic compounds; Pesticides; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Polycyclic aromatic compounds.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Principal component analyses (PCA) of metals with biplot of the fourth components for Liver (A & B), Muscle (C&D), and Fat (E & F). The locations are shown by different colors using the acronyms BB (Baffin Bay), FB (Foxe Basin), GB (Gulf of B Boothia), NBS (Northern Beaufort Sea), SHB (Southern Hudson Bay), and WHB (Western Hudson Bay).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Principal component analyses (PCA) of PACs with biplot of the fourth components for Liver (A & B), Muscle (C & D), and Fat (E & F). The locations are shown in different colors using the acronyms BB (Baffin Bay), FB (Foxe Basin), GB (Gulf of Boothia), NBS (Northern Beaufort Sea), SHB (Southern Hudson Bay), and WHB (Western Hudson Bay).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Principal component analyses of chlordanes with biplot of the fourth components for Liver (A & B), Muscle (C & D), and Fat (E & F). The locations are shown in different colors using the acronyms BB (Baffin Bay), FB (Foxe Basin), GB (Gulf of Boothia), NBS (Northern Beaufort Sea), SHB (Southern Hudson Bay), and WHB (Western Hudson Bay).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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