DIETARY EXPOSURE OF BDE-47 AND BDE-99 AND EFFECTS ON BEHAVIOR, BIOENERGETICS, AND THYROID FUNCTION IN JUVENILE RED-EARED SLIDERS (TRACHEMYS SCRIPTA ELEGANS) AND COMMON SNAPPING TURTLES (CHELYDRA SERPENTINA)

Juvenile red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans) and snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) were fed food dosed with brominated diphenyl ether-47 (BDE-47) or BDE-99 for 6 mo beginning approximately 9 mo posthatch. During the exposure period, measurements of growth, bioenergetics, and behavior were made; thyroid function and accumulation were quantified postexposure. Whole-body concentrations of both congeners were lower in red-eared sliders compared with snapping turtles after 6 mo of exposure. Snapping turtles receiving BDE-47 had significantly elevated standard metabolic rates after 3 mo and 4 mo of exposure (p=0.014 and p=0.019, respectively). When exposed to BDE-99, red-eared sliders were slower to right themselves after having been inverted (p<0.0001). Total glandular thyroxine concentrations were significantly reduced in red-eared sliders exposed to BDE-47 (mean control, 8080ng/g; mean BDE-47, 5126ng/g; p=0.034). These results demonstrate that dietary exposure to BDE-47 and BDE-99 can elicit a suite of responses in 2 species of turtles, but that the red-eared slider appears to be a more sensitive species to the measured end points. Environ Toxicol Chem 2014;33:2810-2817. (c) 2014 SETAC