Urinary Phthalate Metabolite Concentrations in Common Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) Under Professional Care.

Common bottlenose dolphins residing in zoos and aquariums are viewed as ambassadors for their wild counterparts. Previous studies on wild bottlenose dolphins have raised concerns about exposure to phthalates - synthetic chemicals that can pose health risks. Recent research on wild bottlenose dolphins has reported prevalent exposure to phthalates. The current case study investigated urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations for five adult female common bottlenose dolphins residing at Brookfield Zoo Chicago. Most of the tests performed for specific metabolites did not show detectable concentrations, and metabolite concentrations were generally low when detected. Animal care professionals working at other zoos and aquariums should: 1) investigate phthalate exposure for bottlenose dolphins and other aquatic species, and if necessary, 2) identify sources of phthalate exposure. Furthermore, researchers can conduct experiments to gain insight into how various species process and excrete phthalate metabolites. The ultimate goal is to enhance the welfare of professionally managed animals by reducing exposure to phthalates and to inform our understanding of the metabolic degradation of phthalates.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science

• Publication date

  2025-08-02

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1080/10888705.2025.2542812PMID 40751593
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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