PT19 Unique Demands of Endangered Species Evaluations
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Tuesday
(PT283) Organochlorine pollutants assessment in three species of sea turtles from Baja California, Mexico.
Juárez, A.1, Zaphoznicova, Y.2, Schlenk, D.2, Gardner, S.1, 1 Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, La Paz, BCS, Mexico2 University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
ABSTRACT- Organochlorine contaminants, which include various pesticides such as DDT, and industrial chemicals such as PCB′s, have received priority attention in recent decades for their effects on humans and wildlife due to their long permanence, accumulation in biota, and dispersal in the environment. Sea turtles, considered in danger of extinction, can concentrate these contaminants due to their long lifespan, the diverse sources of exposure along their migration, and their trophic level. However, studies which related organochlorine contaminants with decreases in sea turtle populations are very scarce, and in the Pacific ocean, they are almost nonexistent. The objective of this research was to evaluate the presence and concentration of organochlorine contaminants in sea turtles from Baja California Sur, as a first approach to this problem. Analyses were conducted of 4 tissues from a total of 30 turtles of the species Chelonia mydas, Caretta caretta, and Lepidochelys olivacea. Extractions were conducted according to the procedures established by the EPA and were injected in a gas chromatograph with an electron capture detector. None of the 32 congeners of PCB′s analyzed were detected, but 10 of the 20 organochlorine pesticides analyzed were found. DDT and chlordane were the pesticides with the highest concentrations and present in the most samples. The species with the greatest concentration of organochlorines was C. caretta while C. mydas presented the lowest concentrations. Possible sources of contamination, their potential effects and the relationship of these to the ecological characteristics of each species are discussed.
Key words: sea turtle, organochlorine, pesticides, PCBs