Chlordane induced neurotoxicosis in urban and suburban Detroit, Michigan striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis)

Abstract

Despite the ban of technical chlordane, contamination from this persistent organic pollutant threatens wildlife and human health nearly forty years since its last application. In this study, eight of seventeen skunks displaying illness and neurologic signs had brain tissue concentrations of combined oxychlordane, heptachlor epoxide, and trans-nonachlor exceeding a 1,000 ng/g wet weight diagnostic threshold for toxicosis. Liver tissue concentrations were ten-fold greater than brain when measured on a lipid weight basis, which can help predict lethal brain residues in skunks. The ongoing presence of chlordane in the environment is expected to cause further unintended consequences for wildlife across the Detroit Metropolitan area for decades to come. As with other pollutants in the River Rouge and River Raisin Areas of Concern, the presence of chlordane in the urban environment presents a significant risk for animal, human and ecological health.