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Updated: Feb 14, 2026

Data Collection on Marine Litter Ingestion in Sea Turtles and Thresholds for Good Environmental Status
Published on: May 18, 2019
Chasing phthalates in tissues of marine turtles from the Mediterranean sea
Dario Savoca1, Marco Arculeo1, Salvatore Barreca2
1Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche, Chimiche e Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF), Università degli Studi di Palermo, 90100 Palermo, Italy.
Abstract:
Tissues from thirteen specimens of marine turtles, one Dermochelys coriacea and twelve Caretta caretta, found dead along the Sicilian coasts in 2016 were analyzed for the presence of phthalates. Four phthalates (DEP, DBP, BBP, and DEHP) were found at different significant concentrations in liver and gonads, while only DBP was found in muscle tissues and at a fourfold lower concentration than other phthalates in Dermochelys coriacea. No traces of DEP were detected in C. caretta tissues where DOTP was also revealed. The presence of phthalates in fat tissue in specimens of C. caretta showed a major prevalence of the most lipophilic phthalates DEHP and DOTP. The total concentration of all analyzed phthalates, showed high values in all tissues. Results suggested that for monitoring purposes from live specimens sample collection should be addressed to fat tissue with accurate manipulations.
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