ABSTRACT
This chapter builds on an earlier epidemiological analysis of the literature on cetaceans that focused on the health status of individuals and populations in relation to concentrations of organochlorine contaminants in the animals (Colborn and Smolen, 1996). It includes recent literature on cetaceans and incorporates information about other chlorinated and non-chlorinated contaminants that are now becoming recognized as hazardous to living organisms. It also takes into consideration the growing knowledge about the physical and chemical condition of the cetaceans’ environment and focuses on those contaminants, newly reported or increasing in background concentrations, in marine systems. When available, information from laboratory studies about the health effects of the contaminants is presented. In closing, this chapter relates this information to how contaminant-driven, phenotypic shifts among a sizable proportion of individuals in a population might lead to population destabilization.
