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Author: search.filters.author.Tremblay LASubject: search.filters.subject.New Zealand

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    No place to hide: Marine habitat does not determine per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in odontocetes
    (Elsevier B.V., 2025-12-10) Stockin KA; Peters KJ; Saltré F; Machovsky-Capuska GE; Betty EL; Tremblay LA; Yi S
    As meso- and apex predators in food webs, marine mammals can bioconcentrate persistent environmental contaminants like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Although the presence of PFAS is widely reported in the marine environment, there is a lack of data for cetaceans in Oceania. We investigated whether ecological habitat influences bioconcentration patterns across a range of odontocete (toothed whale, dolphin and porpoise) species. We measured PFAS in liver samples (n = 127) from 16 cetacean species representing four families inhabiting four marine habitats along the Aotearoa New Zealand coastline. We analysed six perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids, ten perfluoroalkyl sulphonic acids and four precursor compounds in the context of sex, body index, habitat and species/family using generalized linear mixed models. Results showed that marine habitat remained a weak predictor of PFAS burden. Instead, biological factors including sex and age class best explained the levels of PFAS detected across all species and habitats. We offer first important insights on PFAS levels across several new taxa globally, including endemic endangered species and poorly described polar vagrants. Our findings further highlight how the ubiquitous nature of PFAS pose a higher risk to odontocetes across different seascapes than previously anticipated.
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    Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), trace elements and life history parameters of mass-stranded common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in New Zealand
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2021-12) Stockin KA; Yi S; Northcott GL; Betty EL; Machovsky-Capuska GE; Jones B; Perrott MR; Law RJ; Rumsby A; Thelen MA; Graham L; Palmer EI; Tremblay LA
    Profiles of 33 PFAS analytes and 12 essential and non-essential trace elements were measured in livers of stranded common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) from New Zealand. PFAS concentrations reported were largely comparable to those measured in other marine mammal species globally and composed mostly of long-chain compounds including perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorododecanoic acid (PFDoDA), perfluorotridecanoic acid (PFTrDA) and perfluorooctanesulfonamide (FOSA). PFAS profiles did not vary significantly by location, body condition, or life history. Notably, significant positive correlations were observed within respective PFAS and trace elements. However, only negative correlations were evident between these two contaminant types, suggesting different exposure and metabolic pathways. Age-associated concentrations were found for PFTrDA and four trace elements, i.e. silver, mercury, cadmium, selenium, indicating differences in the bioaccumulation biomagnification mechanisms. Overall, our results contribute to global understanding of accumulation of PFAS by offering first insights of PFAS exposure in cetaceans living within South Pacific Australasian waters.
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    Development and Deployment of a Framework to Prioritize Environmental Contamination Issues
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 11/11/2020) Kim ND; Taylor MD; Caldwell J; Rumsby A; Champeau O; Tremblay LA
    Management and regulatory agencies face a wide range of environmental issues globally. The challenge is to identify and select the issues to assist the allocation of research and policy resources to achieve maximum environmental gain. A framework was developed to prioritize environmental contamination issues in a sustainable management policy context using a nine-factor ranking model to rank the significance of diffuse sources of stressors. It focuses on contamination issues that involve large geographic scales (e.g., all pastoral soils), significant population exposures (e.g., urban air quality), and multiple outputs from same source on receiving environmental compartments comprising air, surface water, groundwater, and sediment. Factor scores are allocated using a scoring scale and weighted following defined rules. Results are ranked enabling the rational comparison of dissimilar and complex issues. Advantages of this model include flexibility, transparency, ability to prioritize new issues as they arise, and ability to identify which issues are comparatively trivial and which present a more serious challenge to sustainability policy goals. This model integrates well as a planning tool and has been used to inform regional policy development.