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Environmental issues affecting loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta: a study on the presence of inorganic pollutants in organs, tissues and eggs

  • Silvia Canzanella
  • Angela Pepe
  • Doriana Iaccarino
  • Domenico Ricupero
  • Ludovica Curcio
  • Emanuele Esposito
  • Giuseppe Picazio
  • Fulvio Maffucci
  • Fabio Di Nocera
  • Giuseppe Lucifora
  • Pasquale Gallo
  • Mauro Esposito

Climate changes have a significantly impact on the nesting areas for turtles, leading in recent years to an expansion in the Western Mediterranean regions, particularly along the beaches of southern Italy. Furthermore, along these coasts there is an intense recovery activity of stranded turtles.In the context of the One Health approach, which integrates health and environment, there is an increasing interest in monitoring marine pollution and its effects on the loggerhead turtles.Caretta caretta (L., 1758) is the most abundant sea turtle in the Mediterranean Sea and is categorized as “vulnerable” among the endangered species. Due to their extensive migrations, for prolonged periods and on a large geographical scale, sea turtles can accumulate marine pollutants (metals, PCBs, pesticides, PAHs and PFAS) in their liver, kidneys and adipose tissue]. Upon attaining sexual maturity, these toxicants may be transferred to offspring through the eggs, thus exposing developing embryos to potentially high doses of pollutants. This study aimed to quantify chemical contaminants in organs, tissues, and eggs of C. caretta.

  • Keywords:
  • Threatened species,
  • Marine environment,
  • Sea Turtle,
  • Caretta caretta,
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Silvia Canzanella

Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-3362-734X

Angela Pepe

Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale, Italy - ORCID: 0009-0006-8974-4058

Doriana Iaccarino

Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale, Italy - ORCID: 0009-0003-0245-4460

Domenico Ricupero

Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale, Italy

Ludovica Curcio

Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-6779-9780

Emanuele Esposito

Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0001-9180-7659

Giuseppe Picazio

Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0003-2416-1952

Fulvio Maffucci

Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0003-3078-6510

Fabio Di Nocera

Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-2788-4200

Giuseppe Lucifora

Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale, Italy

Pasquale Gallo

Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-9676-2290

Mauro Esposito

Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-0558-0185

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  • Publication Year: 2024
  • Pages: 124-133

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  • Publication Year: 2024

Chapter Information

Chapter Title

Environmental issues affecting loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta: a study on the presence of inorganic pollutants in organs, tissues and eggs

Authors

Silvia Canzanella, Angela Pepe, Doriana Iaccarino, Domenico Ricupero, Ludovica Curcio, Emanuele Esposito, Giuseppe Picazio, Fulvio Maffucci, Fabio Di Nocera, Giuseppe Lucifora, Pasquale Gallo, Mauro Esposito

Language

Italian

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0556-6.10

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2024

Copyright Information

© 2024 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

Tenth International Symposium Monitoring of Mediterranean Coastal Areas: Problems and Measurement Techniques

Book Subtitle

Livorno (Italy) 11th-13th June 2024

Editors

Laura Bonora, Marcantonio Catelani, Matteo De Vincenzi, Giorgio Matteucci

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2024

Copyright Information

© 2024 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0556-6

eISBN (pdf)

979-12-215-0556-6

eISBN (xml)

979-12-215-0557-3

Series Title

Monitoring of Mediterranean Coastal Areas: Problems and Measurement Techniques

Series E-ISSN

2975-0288

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