RESEARCH ARTICLE Trace elements in subantarctic false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) tissues, including the skin as an offshore bioindicator Iris Cáceres-Saez 1 & Daniela Haro 2 & Olivia Blank 3 & Anelio Aguayo-Lobo 4 & Catherine Dougnac 5 & Cristóbal Arredondo 5,6 & H. Luis Cappozzo 1 & Sergio Ribeiro Guevara 7 Received: 9 July 2020 /Accepted: 8 February 2021 # The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature 2021 Abstract On a global scale, cetaceans are recognized well indicators of marine ecosystem health. Trace elements accumulate in their bodies and potentially constitute a toxicological threat. Here, the concentrations of essential Se; unknown physiological elements Br, Rb, Cs, Ni, and Sr; and pollutants arsenic, Cd, Hg, and Ag were assessed in the skin of false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) stranded at Estrecho de Magallanes, South America, and next, tissue comparisons and relationships between elemental concentra- tions in the skin and internal tissues (liver, kidney, spleen, lung, skeletal muscle, and testis) were assessed. Results showed elemental concentration variations among tissues. Selenium concentration was found to be higher in the liver 398 (75) μgg -1 dry weight (DW) (standard deviation in parenthesis), followed by skin. Rubidium and Br concentrations were higher in testis 7.92 (0.42) and 99.1 (5.4) μgg -1 DW, respectively, and Cs in muscle 0.36 (0.12) μgg -1 DW, while Ni concentrations range (<0.05–0.91 μgg -1 DW) did not show differences among tissues. Cadmium and arsenic were found to be higher in kidneys, 71.2 (17.6) and 2.54 (1.77) μg g -1 DW, respectively, while Hg was highest in the liver 1068 (234) μgg -1 DW. Concerning inter-tissue relationships, a positive skin-to-kidney and skin-to-muscle correlations were observed for Cs concentrations, and also Hg showed positive skin-to-spleen, skin-to-kidney, and skin-to-testis correlations, which support its use as potential offshore marine biomonitor. Keywords Elemental contents . Skin biomonitor . Internaltissues . Stranded odontocetes . Tierra del Fuego Island . South Atlantic Ocean ecosystem Introduction Odontocetes or toothed whales often occupy the upper trophic level in food webs and are highly exposed to environmental pollution during their life. A slow rate of pollutant excretion and high accumulation levels (Wagemann and Muir 1984) make them good sentinel species for monitoring marine eco- system health. Both trace and toxic elements enter their body mostly through feeding, and their levels vary greatly depend- ing on intake factors (prey type and trophic level), time of exposure, as well as regional marine pollution (Law et al. 1996). The environmental factors (i.e., seasonal changes, tem- perature, pH, and salinity) play significant roles in trace ele- ment accumulation (Savery et al. 2015; Wagemann et al. 1996). In addition, internal physiological state (i.e., sexual maturation, size, and molting) were also found to affect body bioaccumulation (Méndez-Fernandez et al. 2014; Wagemann and Kozlowska 2005). Hereafter, monitoring trace element concentrations could facilitate the identification of toxic risks Responsible Editor: Philippe Garrigues * Iris Cáceres-Saez caceres.saez@gmail.com; caceres-saez@macn.gov.ar 1 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia, Avenida Ángel Gallardo 470 (C1405DJR), Buenos Aires, Argentina 2 Centro Bahía Lomas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Santo Tomas, Avenida Costanera, 01834 Punta Arenas, Chile 3 Clínica Veterinaria Timaukel y Centro de Rehabilitación de Aves Leñadura (CRAL), José Pithon, 01316 Punta Arenas, Chile 4 Instituto Antártico Chileno (INACH), Plaza Muñoz Gamero, 1055 Punta Arenas, Chile 5 Wildlife Conservation Society, Balmaceda, 586 Punta Arenas, Chile 6 Tarukari, Non-government Organization (no number), Santiago, Chile 7 Laboratorio de Análisis por Activación Neutrónica, Centro Atómico Bariloche, Av. Bustillo, 8500 Bariloche, Argentina Environmental Science and Pollution Research https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12890-1 Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.