North Pacific Baleen Whales as a Potential Source of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Diet of the Indigenous Peoples of the Eastern Arctic Coasts

Chukmasov, Pavel; Aksenov, Andrey; Sorokina, Tatiana; Varakina, Yulia; Sobolev, Nikita; Nieboer, Evert

doi:10.3390/toxics7040065

Submit to this Journal Review for this Journal Edit a Special Issue

Article Menu

...

Open AccessReview

North Pacific Baleen Whales as a Potential Source of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Diet of the Indigenous Peoples of the Eastern Arctic Coasts

^1,*,

and

Arctic Biomonitoring Laboratory, Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M. V. Lomonosov, Severnaya Dvina Emb. 17, Arkhangelsk 163002, Russia

Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Toxics 2019, 7(4), 65; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics7040065

Received: 14 November 2019 / Revised: 11 December 2019 / Accepted: 14 December 2019 / Published: 17 December 2019

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Persistent, Emerging, and Oil Pollutants in Marine Ecosystem and Human Health Risks)

View Full-Text Download PDF

Browse Figures

Citation Export

Abstract

Among marine mammals, gray and bowhead whales contain large amounts of fat and thereby constitute crucial dietary components of the traditional diet of indigenous peoples of the Eastern Arctic. Despite the high nutritional and cultural value of gray and bowhead whales, there is a risk of persistent organic pollutant (POP) intake by indigenous individuals who use marine mammals as their main source of fat. POPs are lipophilic pollutants and are known to accumulate and magnify along the marine food web. Consumption of foods contaminated by POPs can perturb the endocrine, reproductive, and immune systems, and can potentially cause cancer. Moderate to relatively high concentrations of POPs have indeed been reported in the edible tissues of gray and bowhead whales consumed by indigenous peoples of the North Pacific Ocean. Even though their consumption is potentially harmful, there is no regular monitoring of eco-toxicants in the foods consumed by the indigenous peoples of the Eastern Arctic. In our view, the routine analyses of consumable parts of whales and of comparable nutritional items need to be included in the Russian Arctic Biomonitoring Programme. View Full-Text

Keywords: gray whales; bowhead whales; North Pacific; POPs; indigenous people’s nutrition

▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Chukmasov, P.; Aksenov, A.; Sorokina, T.; Varakina, Y.; Sobolev, N.; Nieboer, E. North Pacific Baleen Whales as a Potential Source of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Diet of the Indigenous Peoples of the Eastern Arctic Coasts. Toxics 2019, 7, 65. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics7040065

AMA Style

Chukmasov P, Aksenov A, Sorokina T, Varakina Y, Sobolev N, Nieboer E. North Pacific Baleen Whales as a Potential Source of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Diet of the Indigenous Peoples of the Eastern Arctic Coasts. Toxics. 2019; 7(4):65. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics7040065

Chicago/Turabian Style

Chukmasov, Pavel, Andrey Aksenov, Tatiana Sorokina, Yulia Varakina, Nikita Sobolev, and Evert Nieboer. 2019. "North Pacific Baleen Whales as a Potential Source of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Diet of the Indigenous Peoples of the Eastern Arctic Coasts" Toxics 7, no. 4: 65. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics7040065

Find Other Styles

Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Abstract views Pdf views Html views

Article Menu

North Pacific Baleen Whales as a Potential Source of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Diet of the Indigenous Peoples of the Eastern Arctic Coasts

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Article Access Map by Country/Region

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI