Organochlorine pesticides, PCBs, heavy metals and anticoagulant rodenticides in tissues of Eurasian otters (Lutralutra) from upper Loire River catchment (France)

In this study, tissues of the Eurasian otter (Lutralutra) from a naturally expanding population along upper Loire River (France) catchment were used for contaminants analyses. nine organochlorine pesticides, 16 PCB congeners, five heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, copper and arsenic) and three anticoagulant rodenticides were quantified in livers of road-traffic killed otters. Organochlorine compounds and heavy metals were found in 100% of the samples, and occasional contamination by anticoagulant rodenticides was confirmed. Total organochlorine pesticides reached a maximum of 9.4 mg kg−1 lipid weight. Higher data were observed for other contaminants, especially total PCBs and mercury. Maximal total PCBs values reached 64.8 mg kg−1 lipid weight, and maximal measured mercury concentration was 8.2 mg kg−1 fresh weight. Considering the expansion noted in the study area, global contamination does not seem to threat the short-term species conservation. Nevertheless, important values at some individual scale were noticed, suggesting high inter-individual variations in populations.