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On the occurrence of a widespread contamination by herbicides of coral reef biota in French Polynesia

  • Crop protection and environmental health: legacy management and new concepts
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Abstract

Research has been conducted within the framework of the French Initiative for Coral Reefs (IFRECOR) to assess pesticide pollution levels in the coral reef trophic webs in French Polynesia. Unexpected widespread contamination by herbicides was found in algae, fishes and macro-invertebrates located at various levels of the reef trophic web. Concentrations in organisms investigated were for the majority below the lowest observable effect level and do not pose a dietary risk to native population who subsist on these fish. However, the widespread contamination may affect the reef ecosystem in the future as coral symbiotic algae, Symbidinium sp. (Dinophyta) are particularly sensitive to photosystem II herbicides, particularly the substituted urea and triazine derivatives.

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Acknowledgments

We are extremely grateful to Clive Wilkinson, Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Australia, for his advice on the paper and for English language editing.

We thank Professor Philippe Berny for the collaboration of his Toxicology Laboratory at the National Veterinary School in Lyon for the analysis of samples collected in French Polynesia.

We thank all colleagues who support the research programme (Annie Aubanel, Stephen Yen Kai Sun, Christian Monier, Serge Planes) and help collecting and preparing the samples in French Polynesia before analysis in France (Elodie Lagouy, Julie Petit, Serge Planes, Gilbert Poli, Yannick Chancerelle, Benoit Espiau, René Galzin).

We thank the Committee IFRECOR that manages several programmes on all overseas communities. One of them entitled ‘Pesticides’ was designed to assess the pollution of reef communities by the main compounds used in agricultural production. This study is one of these extensions.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest concerning this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. USR 3278 CNRS EPHE UPVD, Université de Perpignan, Avenue Paul Alduy, F-66860, Perpignan, France

    Bernard Salvat

  2. Laboratoire d’Excellence CORAIL, CRIOBE-EPHE, Papetoai, Moorea, Polynésie Française

    Bernard Salvat

  3. Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, UMR 8079 CNRS, Université Paris Sud, F-91405, Orsay cedex, France

    Hélène Roche & François Ramade

Authors
  1. Bernard Salvat
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  2. Hélène Roche
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  3. François Ramade
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Correspondence to Hélène Roche.

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Responsible editor: Hongwen Sun

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Salvat, B., Roche, H. & Ramade, F. On the occurrence of a widespread contamination by herbicides of coral reef biota in French Polynesia. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 49–60 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4395-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4395-9

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