Comprehensive screening analysis of organohalogen compounds in blubber samples of 11 toothed whale species stranded on Japanese coasts revealed species-specific accumulation profiles, with a total of over 300 organohalogen compounds detected. For the first time, the composition profiles of marine natural products were found to be useful indicators of the feeding habitats and migration history of individual whale species. The research findings were published in Environmental Science & Technology on February 14, 2025.

Cetaceans are higher trophic animals in the marine ecosystem and have a long lifespan and therefore accumulate a wide variety of chemicals through the food web. Their chronic exposure to organohalogen compounds, especially high levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), may adversely affect the animals’ health. Previous studies in North America have confirmed exposure of several cetacean species not only to existing POPs, but also to other artificial contaminants and marine natural products with POPs-like physicochemical properties and toxicity. However, the species-specific differences in the accumulation levels and composition patterns of various organohalogen compounds (man-made pollutants, marine natural substances, and substances of unknown origin) in cetaceans remained largely unknown. This study investigated the species-specific accumulation profiles of organohalogen compounds in blubber samples of 11 species of toothed whales, archived in the Ehime University Environmental Specimen Bank (es-BANK), using comprehensive GC/MS analysis and cluster analysis. 313 organohalogen compounds were detected in the blubber samples, and their accumulation levels and composition profiles were found to reflect the differences in habitat, depth, and migration routes of individual whale species. The analytical methods established in this study will be useful for comprehensive screening of chemical contaminants in marine mammal species as well as for tracing current and past habitats of these animals.

Reference URL: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c14352

Bibliographic Information

Comprehensive Screening of Anthropogenic and Natural Organohalogen Compounds in 11 Species of Toothed Whales Stranded along Japanese Coasts: Species-Specific Accumulation Profiles and Potential Indicators for Understanding Their Habitats,
Tomoya Sunouchi, Akitoshi Goto, Nguyen Minh Tue, Yuko Tajima, Tadasu K Yamada, Hisato Iwata, Shinsuke Tanabe and Tatsuya Kunisue,
Environmental Science & Technology, 59 (7), 3792-3804,
doi: 10.1021/acs.est.4c14352, 2025, (February 14).

Fundings

• Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS): Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A: 23H00533 and 24H00753)
• Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan (MEXT): Joint Usage　Research Center-Leading Academia in Marine and Environment Pollution Research (LaMer)

Media

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  Comprehensive Profiling of organohalogen compounds in toothed whales

  Species-specific accumulation profiles of organohalogen compounds in 11 whale species

  credit : Tatsuya Kunisue, Ehime University
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