Murphy, S;
Barber, JL;
Learmonth, JA;
Read, FL;
Deaville, R;
Perkins, MW;
Brownlow, A;
... Jepson, PD; + view all
(2015)
Reproductive Failure in UK Harbour Porpoises Phocoena phocoena: Legacy of Pollutant Exposure?
PLOS ONE
, 10
(7)
, Article e0131085. 10.1371/journal.pone.0131085.
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Abstract
Reproductive failure in mammals due to exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can occur either through endocrine disrupting effects or via immunosuppression and increased disease risk. To investigate further, full necropsies and determination of summed 25 polychlorinated biphenyls congeners (∑PCBs lipid weight) in blubber were undertaken on 329 UK-stranded female harbour porpoises (1990-2012). In sexually mature females, 25/127 (19.7%) showed direct evidence of reproductive failure (foetal death, aborting, dystocia or stillbirth). A further 21/127 (16.5%) had infections of the reproductive tract or tumours of reproductive tract tissues that could contribute to reproductive failure. Resting mature females (non-lactating or non-pregnant) had significantly higher mean ∑PCBs (18.5 mg/kg) than both lactating (7.5 mg/kg) and pregnant females (6 mg/kg), though not significantly different to sexually immature females (14.0 mg/kg). Using multinomial logistic regression models ΣPCBs was found to be a significant predictor of mature female reproductive status, adjusting for the effects of confounding variables. Resting females were more likely to have a higher PCB burden. Health status (proxied by “trauma” or “infectious disease” causes of death) was also a significant predictor, with lactating females (i.e. who successfully reproduced) more likely to be in good health status compared to other individuals. Based on contaminant profiles (>11 mg/kg lipid), at least 29/60 (48%) of resting females had not offloaded their pollutant burden via gestation and primarily lactation. Where data were available, these non-offloading females were previously gravid, which suggests foetal or newborn mortality. Furthermore, a lower pregnancy rate of 50% was estimated for “healthy” females that died of traumatic causes of death, compared to other populations. Whether or not PCBs are part of an underlying mechanism, we used individual PCB burdens to show further evidence of reproductive failure in the North-east Atlantic harbour porpoise population, results that should inform conservation management.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Reproductive Failure in UK Harbour Porpoises Phocoena phocoena: Legacy of Pollutant Exposure? |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0131085 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0131085 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2015 Murphy et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited |
| Keywords: | Science & Technology, Multidisciplinary Sciences, Science & Technology - Other Topics, BOTTLE-NOSED DOLPHINS, CALIFORNIA SEA LIONS, ENDOCRINE-DISRUPTING CHEMICALS, PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS, ST-LAWRENCE ESTUARY, MINK MUSTELA-VISON, POLYCHLORINATED-BIPHENYLS, ZALOPHUS-CALIFORNIANUS, TURSIOPS-TRUNCATUS, DELPHINUS-DELPHIS |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1502336 |
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