Chemical used in marine paint may damage hearing in whales

A toxic chemical painted on the bottom of large vessels to protect against barnacles may cause hearing difficulties in whales and other mammals, according to a study by Yale researchers published in the Biophysical Journal.


The chemical tributyltin oxide (TBT) affects the mechanical activity of the outer hair cells, which modulate and boost incoming sound energy to the inner hair cells, according to senior author Joseph Santos-Sacchi, professor of surgery and neurobiology at Yale School of Medicine.

TBT is known to damage the immune system and the hormonal system of marine mammals, “but this is the first time it has been demonstrated that TBT could be working directly on the auditory system,” said Santos-Sacchi. Mammals are the only group of animals that have outer hair cells.

Sensitive hearing in mammals relies on cochlear amplification resulting from the motor activity of outer hair cells. The protein prestin along with its interaction with intracellular chloride ions are key to this motor activity.

Santos-Sacchi and his colleagues used guinea pigs in their study and found rapid and profound effects of TBT on the outer hair cells as they studied the effects of TBT on chloride ion exchange across the outer hair cell membrane.

He said TBT bypasses the normal chloride ion pathway, thereby altering the ion’s modulating effects of prestin; this may have a negative affect on cochlear amplification.

“This observation identifies a new environmental threat for marine mammals by TBT, which is known to accumulate in the food chain,” Santos-Sacchi said. “It also is now important to assess the impact of TBT exposure on marine mammal communication.”

Media Contact

Jacqueline Weaver EurekAlert!

More Information:

http://www.yale.edu

All latest news from the category: Life Sciences and Chemistry

Articles and reports from the Life Sciences and chemistry area deal with applied and basic research into modern biology, chemistry and human medicine.

Valuable information can be found on a range of life sciences fields including bacteriology, biochemistry, bionics, bioinformatics, biophysics, biotechnology, genetics, geobotany, human biology, marine biology, microbiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, zoology, bioinorganic chemistry, microchemistry and environmental chemistry.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Results for control of pollutants in water

Brazilian scientists tested a simple and sustainable method for monitoring and degrading a mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, compounds present in fossil fuels and industrial waste. An article published in the journal Catalysis…

A tandem approach for better solar cells

Perovskite-based solar cells were first proved in 2009 to have excellent light-absorbing properties of methylammonium lead bromide and methylammonium lead iodide, collectively referred to as lead halide perovskites or, more…

The behavior of ant queens is shaped by their social environment

Specialization of ant queens as mere egg-layers is reversible / Queen behavioral specialization is initiated and maintained by the presence of workers. The queens in colonies of social insects, such…

Partners & Sponsors