ArticleArchives of environmental contamination and toxicology2020
Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and Sex Hormone Concentrations in Ringed and Grey Seals: A Possible Link to Endocrine Disruption?
Article in Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Environmental estrogens and animal reproductive health: mechanisms, biomarkers, and intervention approaches.Journal of animal science and biotechnology · 2026Review
- Impacts of environmental stressors on fertility and fecundity across taxa, with implications for planetary health.NPJ emerging contaminants · 2026Review
- Impacts of PCBs on grey seal pup immunity and influenza A infection vary across biological scales.Aquatic toxicology (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2025Article
- Effects of Pharmaceuticals and Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals on Reproductive Biology of Aquatic Fauna: Penguins as Sentinel Species.Journal of xenobiotics · 2025Review
- Contaminant-Associated Disruption of the Skin Transcriptome in the Endangered St. Lawrence Estuary Beluga.Environmental science & technology · 2025Article
- Food contaminants: mechanisms of toxicity, computational assessment, and mitigation.Frontiers in toxicology · 2025Review
- A Multi-Matrix Metabolomic Approach in Ringed Seals and Beluga Whales to Evaluate Contaminant and Climate-Related Stressors.Metabolites · 2022Article
- Variation of blubber thickness for three marine mammal species in the southern Baltic Sea.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are recognised reproductive and immune system toxicants in marine mammals mediated by endocrine-disrupting mechanisms. As with other predators, seals are exposed to elevated bioaccumulated concentrations of PCBs and other persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Cryopreserved plasma samples from adult ringed (Phoca hispida; n = 39) and grey (Halichoerus grypus; n = 38) seals, sampled between 1998 and 2002 from Baltic Sea, Svalbard, and Sable Island (Canada) were used to investigate relationships between PCB exposure and sex hormone concentrations (progesterone; P4, 17α-hydroxy progesterone; 17α-OH-P4, testosterone; T4, 17β-estradiol; E2, estrone; E3). Immunoassay methods were used for quantification of analytes due to the limited sample volumes available. PCB concentrations were found to be significantly higher in Baltic seals than other sampling locations and were classed as "Exposed" seals while Svalbard and Sable Is seal were classed "Reference" seals (sexes and species separate). Mean hormone concentrations in Exposed seal were lower than Reference seals, and this was statistically significantly for 17α-OH-P4 (both sexes and both species), E2 (ringed and grey seal females), and E3 (grey seal females). Regression analyses (PCB v hormone concentrations) for each sex and species revealed significant correlations for P4 (Sable Is. female grey seals and female ringed seals), 17α-OH-P4 (Sable Is. male grey seals and Svalbard male ringed seals), T4 (Svalbard male ringed seals), E2 (female ringed seals), and E3 (female ringed seals and Baltic female grey seals). Although significant correlations are not evidence of cause and effect, the potential impact of hormone changes on endocrine homeostasis and reproductive health for seal populations warrants further investigation given that PCB concentrations found here are in the same range as those currently reported in seals from these populations.
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Registered trials
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