US EPA

1241188 

Journal Article 

Pollutants and the health of green sea turtles resident to an urbanized estuary in San Diego, CA 

Komoroske, LM; Lewison, RL; Seminoff, JA; Deheyn, DD; Dutton, PH 

2011 

Yes 

Chemosphere
ISSN: 0045-6535
EISSN: 1879-1298 

84 

5 

544-552 

English 

21549409 

10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.04.023 

WOS:000293056500003 

https://search.proquest.com/docview/1365038268?accountid=171501
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Rapid expansion of coastal anthropogenic development means that critical foraging and developmental habitats often occur near highly polluted and urbanized environments. Although coastal contamination is widespread, the impact this has on long-lived vertebrates like the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) is unclear because traditional experimental methods cannot be applied. We coupled minimally invasive sampling techniques with health assessments to quantify contaminant patterns in a population of green turtles resident to San Diego Bay, CA, a highly urbanized and contaminated estuary. Several chemicals were correlated with turtle size, suggesting possible differences in physiological processes or habitat utilization between life stages. With the exception of mercury, higher concentrations of carapace metals as well as 4,4'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) and γ chlordane in blood plasma relative to other sea turtle studies raises important questions about the chemical risks to turtles resident to San Diego Bay. Mercury concentrations exceeded immune function no-effects thresholds and increased carapace metal loads were correlated with higher levels of multiple health markers. These results indicate immunological and physiological effects studies are needed in this population. Our results give insight into the potential conservation risk contaminants pose to sea turtles inhabiting this contaminated coastal habitat, and highlight the need to better manage and mitigate contaminant exposure in San Diego Bay. 

article; Animals; Chlordan; Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene; Environmental Monitoring; Fresh Water; Mercury; Seawater; Turtles; Urbanization; Water Pollutants, Chemical; Water Pollution, Chemical; Chelonia mydas; DDE (pesticide); blood plasma; chlordane; estuaries; foraging; habitats; pollutants; sea turtles; California