6533b835fe1ef96bd12a00ac

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Can phthalates move into the eggs of the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta? The case of the nests on the Linosa Island in the Mediterranean Sea

Giulia ViscontiIrene CamberaVincenzo ArizzaSilvestre BuscemiDario SavocaAntonio Palumbo-piccionelloRaffaella MelfiAndrea PaceLuca VecchioniMarco Arculeo

subject

0106 biological sciencesfood.ingredientYolkPhthalic AcidsZoology010501 environmental sciencesAquatic ScienceOceanography01 natural sciencesLoggerhead sea turtlechemistry.chemical_compoundMediterranean seafoodPlasticizersYolkMediterranean SeaAnimalsEggshell0105 earth and related environmental sciencesIslandsAlbumenbiology010604 marine biology & hydrobiologyMaternal transferPersistent organic pollutantsPhthalateContaminationbiology.organism_classificationPollutionDibutyl PhthalateTurtlesPhthalic acidchemistryEggshellVitellogenesisPlastics

description

During the monitoring of Caretta caretta nests on the island of Linosa, 30 unhatched eggs from four nests were collected to study the presence of phthalates in their three components (shell, yolk, and albumen). Four phthalates, namely diethyl (DEP), dibutyl (DBP), di-(2-ethylhexyl) (DEHP), and dioctyl (DOTP) phthalic acid esters (PAE), which are widely used as additives in plastics, were detected in all egg components. The most frequently found phthalate was DBP, followed by DEHP in eggshell and yolk. Dimethyl- (DMP) and butylbenzyl-phthalate (BBP) were below the limits of detection for all samples. The high total phthalate recorded in the yolk suggests that contamination could arise by vitellogenesis. PERMANOVA analysis (p = 0.01) confirmed significant differences in the PAEs contamination profiles in the eggs from the four nests. This study confirms the negative impact of plastic related compounds posing questions about the potential adverse effects on organisms and their conservation status.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2021-03-11
10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112395http://hdl.handle.net/10447/513345