**5. Conclusions**

This review highlights the importance of omic studies in dolphins which have contributed greatly in recognizing the presence and effect of contaminants such as HOC, CECs (BPA and PFOs) and those associated with oil spills (summarized in **Table 1**). Omics technologies are important to study adverse effects of contaminants or environmental changes because they provide information on the alterations of genes, proteins, metabolites and phenotypic responses [14]. Transcriptomic-based investigations were used most frequently (31%); only a few studies used a metabolomic approach (8%). The principal tool used for transcriptomic is RNA-seq and for proteomics, metabolomics and lipidomics is mass spectrometry coupled to different types of spectrometers (**Figure 1**).

Some of the more likely applications for omics in dolphins are characterization and physiology. Although omics studies have been used for many topics, the number of studies concerning contamination is rather low. Studies of proteomics, metabolomic and lipidomic are still lacking; therefore, these findings may give insight for future studies. This type of study contributes greatly in establishing baselines for environmental health studies of coastal and marine systems, the health status of the

*Applications of Omics Approaches to Decipher the Impact of Contaminants in Dolphins DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102424*

dolphin reflects the status of their environment. Perhaps it may allow the local as well as the scientific community to be more aware of marine ecosystem conditions and to recognize the importance and possibilities of integrate omics studies regarding pollution.
