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A great blue heron colony located near a pulp mill in British Columbia failed to fledge young in 1987, with a concurrent sharp increase in polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF) levels in their eggs. In 1988 we tested the hypothesis that the PCDD and PCDF contamination caused reproductive failure by increasing mortality of the heron embryos in ovo. Pairs of great blue heron eggs were collected from three British Columbia colonies with low, intermediate, and high levels of dioxin contamination: Nicomekl, Vancouver, and Crofton, respectively. One egg of each pair was incubated under laboratory conditions at the University of British Columbia (UBC) while the other egg was analyzed for PCDDs and PCDFs. All incubated eggs were fertile. All eggs from the Nicomekl colony hatched, while 13 of 14 eggs from Vancouver and 12 of 13 eggs from Crofton hatched. Subcutaneous edema was observed in 4 of 12 chicks from Crofton and 2 of 13 chicks from Vancouver. No edema was seen in the chicks from Nicomekl. There was a small, but significant, negative regression of plasma calcium concentration, yolk-free body weight, tibia length, wet, dry, and ash weight, beak length, and kidney and stomach weight of the hatched chicks on the tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) level of the paired eggs. Fewer down follicles were present on the heads of TCDD-contaminated chicks. Hence while dioxins did not cause mortality of the heron embryos in ovo, the depression of growth and the presence of edema are suggestive that dioxins at the levels found in the environment have an adverse effect on the development of great blue heron embryos.

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Throughout the United States and Canada the polychlorinated di-benzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) released in kraft pulp effluent have become a matter of intense public and regulatory concern. The central nervous system (CNS) is known to be one organ that is sensitive to environmental toxins. Although several studies have demonstrated biochemical changes in various regions of dioxin- and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-exposed brains, no one has yet characterized the specific cellular nervous system changes due to dioxin exposure. To this end, we have begun to analyze the CNS of heron hatchlings contamined in the wild in ovo with a mixture of PCDDs and PCDFs. We used histologic and morphometric techniques to examine differences in the cell density of specific nuclei and the gross differences in the shape of different parts of the brain. Preliminary analyses indicated the following: a) the brains of heron hatchlings from contaminated colonies exhibited a gross morphometric intercerebral asymmetry, and such asymmetry was associated with the level of TCDD contamination in eggs; and b) there was an increased cell density and overall medial-to-lateral width in the pyriform cortex of the brains of hatchlings from a contaminated versus a relatively uncontaminated colony.

Great blue heron hatchlings from colonies in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia, Canada are being monitored for environmental contaminant exposure and effects by the Canadian Wildlife Service. The contaminants of concern are polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), primarily derived from kraft pulp mill effluent. The levels of PCDDs and PCDFs in eggs from the most contaminated colonies peaked in 1988 and 1989 and dropped dramatically through 1990 to 1992. Brains of heron hatchlings (taken as eggs from the wild and hatched in the laboratory) were analyzed for gross morphological abnormalities. Brains from highly contaminated colonies (Crofton, British Columbia and University of British Columbia Endowment Lands) in 1988 exhibited a high frequency of intercerebral asymmetry. The frequency of this abnormality decreased in subsequent years as the levels of TCDD and TCDD-TEQs (toxic equivalence factors) decreased. The asymmetry was significantly correlated with the level of TCDD and TCDD-TEQs in eggs taken from the same nest. Yolk-free body weight negatively correlated and the brain somatic index positively correlated with the TCDD level in such pair-matched eggs. These results indicate that gross brain morphology, and specifically intercerebral asymmetry, may be useful as a biomarker for the developmental neurotoxic effects of PCDDs and related chemicals.ImagesFigure 1.

Plasma testosterone levels of reindeer increased from 1 ng/cm3 in August to 30–60 ng/cm3 in mid-September. By late October, when rutting activity had almost ceased, the testosterone concentration had declined to barely detectable levels. The seasonal pattern exhibited by caribou was similar except the peak levels associated with rutting occurred about 1 month later than reindeer. The seasonal changes in plasma testosterone levels of two hybrid calves were studied. Peak testosterone levels of 5 and 3.8 ng/cm3 were attained in late October.The influence of the endocrine glands on antler renewal and casting, and the rhythmic growth pattern exhibited by caribou and reindeer are discussed.

Eggs were collected from seven seabird species at colonies on the British Columbia coast from 1983 to 1986 and analyzed for organochlorine contaminants. Total PCB levels (wet weight) were highest in double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) from the Fraser estuary (2.91 mg kg(-1)) and the Strait of Georgia (3.79 mg kg(-1)). Highest DDE levels were in fork-tailed storm-petrels (Oceanodroma furcata) from the Queen Charlotte Islands (1.68 mg kg(-1)). Organochlorine levels were generally lower in eggs from the mid 1980s than in those collected in the early 1970s. Organochlorine levels in Pacific alcids and hydrobatids foraging in offshore locations were compared to those in the same or ecologically similar species from the Canadian Atlantic coast. DDT- and HCH-related compounds were higher in Pacific populations while levels of dieldrin, oxychlordane, and HCB were generally lower. With the exception of β-HCH, levels of all measured organochlorines were lower in cormorants breeding in the Fraser River estuary than in cormorants from the St. Lawrence River estuary on the Atlantic coast.

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