Tissue distribution of organic contaminants in stranded pregnant sperm whale (Physeter microcephalus) from the Huizhou coast of the South China Sea

Twelve persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were measured in 11 tissue samples from a pregnant sperm whale stranded on the Huizhou coast of the South China Sea, China, in March 2017. POPs were found to be more concentrated in the irrigated tissues such as placenta, ovary, mammary gland, and liver than the less irrigated tissues such as epidermis. High POP levels detected in the placenta might result in abnormal hormone secretion in the placenta, which would affect the unborn offspring. We hypothesized that ovary is potentially vulnerable to the exposure of higher contaminant levels. The PAH concentrations were higher in the lung than in other tissues, which suggest that PAH levels in the lung were breath-dependent in the sperm whale. The concentrations of POPs except PAHs in the sperm whale blubber were lower than those in the same species in the Northern Hemisphere and were comparable to or lower than those in the same species in the Southern Hemisphere.