A first evaluation of the usefulness of feathers of nestling predatory birds for non-destructive biomonitoring of persistent organic pollutants

Abstract

In previous studies, feathers of adult predatory birds have been evaluated as valid non-destructive biomonitor matrices for persistent organic pollutants (POPs). In this study, we assessed for the first time the usefulness of nestling raptor feathers for non-destructive biomonitoring of POPs. For this purpose, we collected body feathers and blood of nestlings from three avian top predators from northern Norway: northern goshawks (Accipiter gentilis), white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos). We were able to detect a broad spectrum of legacy POPs in the nestling feathers of all three species (Σ PCBs: 6.78-140ng g(-1); DDE: 3.15-145ng g(-1); Σ PBDEs: 0.538-7.56ng g(-1)). However, these concentrations were lower compared to other studies on raptor species, probably due to the aspect of monitoring of nestlings instead of adults. Besides their analytical suitability, nestling feathers also appear to be biologically informative: concentrations of most POPs in nestling feathers showed strong and significant correlations with blood plasma concentrations in all species (p<0.050; 0.775<r<0.994). In addition, the reported correlations between feathers and blood plasma were much higher than those previously reported for adult individuals. Accumulation profiles and species-specific differences were in accordance with other toxicological studies on avian species and generally in agreement with the specific ecology of the studied species. In summary, our results indicate that the use of nestling feathers of northern raptors may be a valid and promising non-destructive biomonitoring strategy for POPs in their ecosystems.

Contaminants in the southern tip of South America: Analysis of organochlorine compounds in feathers of avian scavengers from Argentinean Patagonia

“…The OC exposure in raptors from Argentina found in this study were much higher than those found in feathers of raptors from northern Norway and South-west Iran (Eulaers et al, 2011;Behrooz et al, 2009a), and feathers of seabirds from Spain (Espín et al, 2012) and mongolian plover (Charadrius mongolus) from South India (Tanabe et al, 1998). Several factors may have led to the high OC concentrations found in our study.…”

Spatial and interspecific variation of accumulated trace metals between remote and urbane dwelling birds of Pakistan

“…Besides internal assimilation through diet during feather growth when the feather is connected to the bloodstream and metals are integrated in the keratin structure (Tsipoura et al, 2008), metals may be externally deposited on the feathers of exposed birds from the environment and/or through preening (Dauwe et al, 2003;Cardiel et al, 2011;Jaspers et al, 2004). Monitoring of pollutant concentrations using bird feathers as a matrix, has proven to be a useful tool for assessing environmental quality of aquatic and terrestrial habitats (Eulaers et al, 2011;Garcia-Fernandez et al, 2013).…”

PCBs and DDTs in light-vented bulbuls from Guangdong Province, South China: Levels, geographical pattern and risk assessment

“…Birds have been successfully used as sentinel species to monitor the levels and effects of POPs in the environment because they are widespread, sensitive to environmental changes, and often high on the food chain (Dauwe et al, 2006;Van den Steen et al, 2010a,2010bCuster et al, 2012;Sun et al, 2012;Eng et al, 2014). Predatory birds have been widely used as biomonitoring species for POPs (Chen et al, 2009b;Chen and Hale, 2010;Eulaers et al, 2011;Gómez-Ramírez et al, 2014), but most of these birds are less suitable to reflect the local contamination status because they are migratory and live in an extended area with low population densities (Dauwe et al, 2006(Dauwe et al, , 2009. Thus, resident passerine bird species have been successfully used as biomonitoring tools to determine POPs contamination (Dauwe et al, 2009;Van den Steen et al, 2010b;Eens et al, 2013;Morrissey et al, 2013;Eng et al, 2014).…”