Assessment of contaminant levels and trophic relations at a World Heritage Site by measurements in a characteristic shorebird species

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThe River Elbe is responsible for influxes of contaminants into the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site. We investigated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), oxychlordane (OxC), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), hexachlorocyclohexanes (α-, β-, γ-HCHs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in blood and feathers from Eurasian oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus; n ¼28) at the Elbe and compared it with a non-riverine site about 90 km further north. (1) Mean levels of all contaminants in feathers and serum were significantly higher at the river (∑PCBs: 27.6 ng/g feather, 37.0 ng/ml serum; ∑DDTs: 5.3 ng/g feather, 4.4 ng/ml serum) compared with the non-riverine site (∑PCBs: 6.5 ng/g feather, 1.2 ng/ml serum; ∑DDTs: 1.4 ng/g feather, 0.5 ng/ml serum). Mean ∑HCH and HCB levels were o 1.8 ng/g in feather and o1.8 ng/ml in serum at both sites.(2) Levels of most detectable compounds in serum and feathers were significantly related, but levels were not consistently higher in either tissue. (3) There was no significant relationship between trophic level in individual oystercatchers (expressed as δ15N) or the degree of terrestrial feeding (expressed as δ13C) and contaminant loads. (4) PBDEs were not detected in significant amounts at either site. The results of this study indicate that the outflow from one of Europe′s largest river systems is associated with significant historical contamination, reflected by the accumulation of contaminants in body tissues in a coastal benthivore predator.& Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Individual variation of persistent organic pollutants in relation to stable isotope ratios, sex, reproductive phase and oxidative status in Scopoli's shearwaters ( Calonectris diomedea ) from the Southern Mediterranean

“…as Cape Verde shearwater Calonectris edwardsii, Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis, Cape Verde little shearwater Puffinus boydi and Little shearwater Puffinus baroli), were similar or lower than those measured in our population (Roscales et al, 2011). A comparison with other marine species breeding at different latitudes (e.g., poles or tropics) shows that concentrations of several contaminants analysed in Scopoli's shearwaters were around 2 to 1000 times higher (depending on the contaminant) than in the snow petrel during the incubation period in the Antarctic (Tartu et al, 2015a), in the Black-legged kittiwake during the incubation period in Svalbard (Tartu et al, 2015b), in the Eurasian oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus during the incubation period near the river Elbe (Schwemmer et al, 2015), in the common eider Somateria mollissima during the incubation period in Svalbard (Fenstad et al, 2016) or in the Magnificent frigatebird Fregata magnificens during the chick rearing period in French Guiana (Sebastiano et al, 2016). Compared to studies done on the highly contaminated Glaucous gull Larus hyperboreus (Verboven et al, 2010) and Great skua Stercorarius skua (Leat et al, 2013), plasma levels of POPs in shearwaters were much lower.…”