Biomonitoring using birds of prey as sentinel species has been mooted as a way to evaluate the success of European Union directives that are designed to protect people and the environment across Europe from industrial contaminants and pesticides. No such pan-European evaluation currently exists. Coordination of such large scale monitoring would require harmonisation across multiple countries of the types of samples collected and analysed-matrices vary in the ease with which they can be collected and the information they provide. We report the first ever pan-European assessment of which raptor samples are collected across Europe and review their suitability for biomonitoring. Currently, some 182 monitoring programmes across 33 European countries collect a variety of raptor samples, and we discuss the relative merits of each for monitoring current priority and emerging compounds. Of the matrices collected, blood and liver are used most extensively for quantifying trends in recent and longer-term contaminant exposure, respectively. These matrices are potentially the most effective for pan-European biomonitoring but are not so widely and frequently collected as others. We found that failed eggs and feathers are the most widely collected samples. Because of this ubiquity, they may provide the best opportunities for widescale biomonitoring, although neither is suitable for all compounds. We advocate piloting pan-European monitoring of selected priority compounds using these matrices and developing read-across approaches to accommodate any effects that trophic pathway and species differences in accumulation may have on our ability to track environmental trends in contaminants.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10646-016-1636-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Feathers have many advantages that make them an excellent nondestructive tool for monitoring polyhalogenated compounds (PHCs). This paper proposes a review on the PHCs in feathers and factors influencing the pollutant load. Special attention has given to external contamination and the main analytical methods used to detect these compounds in feathers. Some authors have found strong and significant correlations between the concentrations of PHCs in feathers and internal tissues, providing positive expectations for their future use in the field of ecotoxicology. However, changes in diet, time elapsed between the previous molt period and sampling, sample size, and/or external contamination have been suggested as possible causes to explain the lack of correlations reported in some studies. Further studies with newly grown feathers and blood samples would be required in order to clarify this issue. Although atmospheric deposition has been reported as cause of external contamination, preening oil seems to be the most relevant factor contributing to this process. Unfortunately, washing techniques tested to date are not able to effectively remove the surface contamination from barbs and shafts, and therefore, it is necessary to develop methods able to discriminate between internal and external contamination. Finally, in this review, deposition rate is proposed as a measurement unit, as this allows comparisons between different parts of the same feather, as well as between different feathers.

Biomonitoring using raptors as sentinels can provide early warning of the potential impacts of contaminants on humans and the environment and also a means of tracking the success of associated mitigation measures. Examples include detection of heavy metal-induced immune system impairment, PCB-induced altered reproductive impacts, and toxicity associated with lead in shot game. Authorisation of such releases and implementation of mitigation is now increasingly delivered through EU-wide directives but there is little established pan-European monitoring to quantify outcomes. We investigated the potential for EU-wide coordinated contaminant monitoring using raptors as sentinels. We did this using a questionnaire to ascertain the current scale of national activity across 44 European countries. According to this survey, there have been 52 different contaminant monitoring schemes with raptors over the last 50years. There were active schemes in 15 (predominantly western European) countries and 23 schemes have been running for >20years; most monitoring was conducted for >5years. Legacy persistent organic compounds (specifically organochlorine insecticides and PCBs), and metals/metalloids were monitored in most of the 15 countries. Fungicides, flame retardants and anticoagulant rodenticides were also relatively frequently monitored (each in at least 6 countries). Common buzzard (Buteo buteo), common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), white-tailed sea eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), tawny owl (Strix aluco) and barn owl (Tyto alba) were most commonly monitored (each in 6-10 countries). Feathers and eggs were most widely analysed although many schemes also analysed body tissues. Our study reveals an existing capability across multiple European countries for contaminant monitoring using raptors. However, coordination between existing schemes and expansion of monitoring into Eastern Europe is needed. This would enable assessment of the appropriateness of the EU-regulation of substances that are hazardous to humans and the environment, the effectiveness of EU level mitigation policies, and identify pan-European spatial and temporal trends in current and emerging contaminants of concern.

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