Comparative study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in salt gland and liver of loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, Cheloniidae) stranded along the Mediterranean coast, Southern Italy

The levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs, were determined in the liver and salt gland of 19 loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta Linnaeus, Cheloniidae) stranded along the coasts of the south Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy, from 2019 to 2021. The 16 EPA’s priority PAHs were determined by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The average values of ΣPAHs in liver, 139 ± 55.0, were exceptionally high and up to one hundred times those of literature and appeared even more worrying in salt gland, 320 ± 97.6 ng/g, w.w. Naphthalene was the predominant contributor to PAHs richness and accounted for 90.0% and 93.7% of ΣPAHs in the two matrices, highlighting the petrogenic source of exposure. An overall higher bioaccumulation of NAP, more than two-fold, was detected in salt gland and especially in female and adults. Data of PAHs richness highlighted a potential risk of neoplastic disease development and that anthropogenic activities may seriously impair healthy state conditions of C. caretta. populations in south Tyrrhenian Sea. •Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs, in liver and salt gland of Caretta c.•Exceptional high PAHs levels, hundred-fold higher than those of literature.•More significant salt gland bioaccumulation than liver.•Predominance of naphthalene in both organs reveals petrogenic source.•PAHs richness highlights serious risk of neoplastic disease in south Tyrrhenian Sea.