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Endocrine Disruptor Research Initiative
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EDRI Federal Project Inventory:
Fate and Effects of Organic Contaminants in a Plankton-based Food Web in the Gulf of Maine


  1. Sponsor Organization: NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION/ SEA GRANT

  2. Project Title: FATE AND EFFECTS OF ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS IN A PLANKTON-BASED FOOD WEB IN THEGULF OF MAINE

  3. Project Focus: ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS

  4. Description: HAH and PAH are known to be transported from atmospheric and terrestrial inputsthrough ocean waters and biota to accumulate in bottom sediments. Modelingtransport, fate and effects of these compounds is a central theme of the RMR programfor the Gulf of Maine (GOM). This study will contribute fundamental information aboutthe concentrations of these contaminants in phytoplankton, zooplankton and rightwhales, and their biological effects in the whales. Study of this plankton-based foodchain is an essential component of the overall GOM research plan, in as much as it isthese planktonic organisms that are central to the primary and secondary productivityof the entire Gulf of Maine. The choice of right whales to detect biological effects oflipophilic contaminants was based on their direct consumption of copepods, their highlipid content, and preliminary data that show this species in the GOM to havedemonstrable biochemical effect in biopsy samples. These data will allow assessmentof the fate and effects of these compounds, and provide an anthropogenic perspectiveon current questions concerning biogenic toxicants associated with phytoplankton andtheir primary and secondary consumers. Definition of contaminant burdens in planktonwill also focus necessary futures study of the biological effects of these contaminantson invertebrates as well as vertebrate species.

  5. References:

  6. Category: MEASUREMENTS

  7. Subcategory: BIOMARKERS, EXPOSURE DETERMINATION

  8. Keywords for Experimental System/Species: FIELD STUDY, MARINE, MAMMAL, INVERTEBRATE, COPEPODS, RIGHT WHALES, TRANSPORT

  9. Keywords for Experimental Endpoints: CYTOCHROME P 450, EXPOSURE MONITORING

  10. Chemical Agents: polynuclear hydrocarbons, halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons

  11. Performing Institution: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institutes, Department of Biology

  12. Contact: Michael Moore, Department of Biology, WHOI, Woods Hole, Ma

 

 
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