Organochlorine pesticides in green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) with and without fibropapillomatosis caught at three feeding areas off Brazil.
Authors: Angellica Maria Sanchez-Sarmiento, Silmara rossi, Franz Zirena Vilca, Ralph Eric Thijl
Vanstreels, Sergio Henrique Monteiro, Luiz Americo S. Vale, Robson Guimaraes Dos Santos, Juliana Marigo, Carolina Pacheco Bertozzi, Jose Henrique Hildebrand Grisi Filho, Valdemar Luiz Tornisielo, and Eliana Reiko Matushima
This article focuses primarily on the study of pollution being a causative agent in Fibropapillomatosis (FP) in sea turtles, specifically green sea turtles, Chelonia mydas. FP is one of the most major threats of conservation in green sea turtles due to its debilitating growth of skin tumors which eventually leaves them stranded. Even though the primary causative agent was found to be chelonid fibropapilloma-associated herpesvirus (CFPHV), the possibility of human-altered environments such as pollution holds a lot of interest.
In this study, the concentrations of Organochloride(OC) from pesticides was quantified from the tissues of green sea turtles selected from 3 common feeding areas along the Brazilian coast. The aim was to correlate the OC concentration with the occurrence of FP.
However, even though there were significant differences in the amount of OC in turtles with or without FP, there was no consistent pattern. And in most cases, OC concentration was higher in turtles without FP. These results do not support the hypothesis that OC is a contributing factor to the contraction of FP.
I found this topic very interesting, because one would think that pollution, especially pesticides, would alter the biochemical pathways along the lines of immunosuppression in green sea turtles which would cause them to become more susceptible to diseases such as Fibropapillomatosis. Even though this is only one recently published study about this topic, I think more studies should be completed but with a broader range of location for subject selection. This is an important topic to address because it is one step closer in allowing us pinpoint the causes of major debilitating diseases such as FP and aids in the conservation effort of these beautiful creatures.
https://www-cambridge-org.nuncio.cofc.edu/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/1968A1813F9EEE897BC9970A8D89475A/S002531541500226Xa.pdf/organochlorine_pesticides_in_green_sea_turtles_chelonia_mydas_with_and_without_fibropapillomatosis_caught_at_three_feeding_areas_off_brazil.pdf
1 comment:
Interesting article. Did all turtles have detectable levels of some of these pesticides? What is the likely source of exposure?
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