Blood and feather concentrations of toxic elements in a Baltic and an Arctic seabird population

Abstract

We report blood and feather concentrations of elements in the Baltic Sea and Arctic population of common eiders (Somateria mollissima). The endangered Baltic Sea population of eiders was demonstrably affected by element pollution in the 1990s. While blood concentrations of Hg were higher in Baltic breeding eiders, blood Se, As and Cd concentrations were higher in Arctic eiders. Blood concentrations of Pb, Cr, Zn and Cu did not differ between the two populations. While blood Pb concentrations had declined in Baltic eiders since the 1990s, Hg concentrations had not declined, and were above concentrations associated with adverse oxidative effects in other bird species. Inconsistent with blood concentrations, feather concentrations suggested that Pb, Zn, and Cd exposure was higher in Baltic eiders, and that Hg exposure was higher in Arctic eiders. Our study thus emphasizes the need for comprehensive evaluation of toxic element status, covering the annual cycle of a species.

Comet assay to evaluate chromosomal changes in chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) contaminated by lead in a city in Bahia

“…Thus, the results of the present research contradict more conservative values considered safe in bird blood, such as 35 µg/dL (Klein and Galey, 1989) and 30 µg/dL (Pain et al, 1993), while corroborating with the most recent blood lead level value of 20 µg/dL considering a normal threshold value for subclinical signs (Bauck and LaBonde, 1997;Dumonceaux and Harrison, 1994;Fenstad et al, 2017;Franson and Pain, 2011;López-Perea et al, 2019;Monclús et al, 2020). It should be noted that a limitation of the study is the small number of birds included in the samples.…”

“…On the other hand, a large portion of the most recent studies have indicated that lead concentrations in the blood of birds that do not show subclinical signs should be less than 20 µg/dL (Bauck and LaBonde, 1997;Dumonceaux and Harrison, 1994;Fenstad et al, 2017;Franson and Pain, 2011;López-Perea et al, 2019;Monclús et al, 2020) and as threshold concentrations of clinical poisoning and lethality probability set as 50 µg/dL (Monclús et al, 2020;Temamogullari et al, 2022). Other studies even present more cautious results, highlighting that blood lead level above 10 µg/dL is considered a risk limit for the health of chickens (Yuan and Tang, 1999).…”

Early‐life diet specificity is associated with long‐lasting differences in apparent survival in a generalist predator

“…In addition to the energetic perspective, prey are the primary source of environmental pollutants for white-tailed eagles in the Baltic Sea (HELCOM, 2018). Contaminant composition can vary temporally and spatially but also between species (Airaksinen et al, 2015;Fenstad et al, 2016Fenstad et al, , 2017Hallikainen et al, 2004Hallikainen et al, , 2011HELCOM, 2010). The great variation between pairs in both diet breadth and in what type of prey the diet contains enables us to ask questions both about the importance of variation per se and of specific prey species or groups, and their associated environmental conditions.…”