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POPS IN ALLIGATOR LIVERS FROM LAKE APOPKA, FLORIDA, USA
Citation:
GARRISON, A. W., L. J. GUILLETTE, JR., T. E. WIESE, AND J. K. AVANTS. POPS IN ALLIGATOR LIVERS FROM LAKE APOPKA, FLORIDA, USA. Presented at 1st Network Conference on Persistent Organic Pollutants, Birmingham, UK, March 29 - 30, 2006.
Impact/Purpose:
To determine the environmental occurrences, fate, and effects of the enantiomers of selected chiral pesticides and other chiral pollutants.
Description:
Reproductive disorders in American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) inhabiting Lake Apopka, Florida, have been observed for several years. Such disorders are hypothesized to be caused by endocrine disrupting contaminants occurring in the Lake due to pesticide spills and runoff from bordering agricultural lands, and various studies have resulted in identification of several POPs (persistent organic pollutants), some of them known endocrine disrupters. However, previous studies have not determined the enantiomer composition of any chiral POPs identified, although it is known that enantiomers of chiral pesticides often differ in their biological activity, including endocrine disruption. In this study, livers from 10 juvenile alligators inhabiting Lake Apopka were extracted and analyzed using chiral gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for identification of organochlorine pesticides; in so doing, the enantiomer fractions of any chiral pesticides identified were also measured. In summary, p,p'-DDE was the most prominent POP (persistent organic pollutant) identified.