Gull eggs—food of high organic pollutant content?

Abstract

A wide range and occasionally high levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are reported in Arctic regions, especially among top predators. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus), arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus) and some gull species (Larus spp.) often have high levels of these fat-soluble pollutants. Gulls deposit significant levels of these contaminants in their eggs. In northern regions, gull eggs are part of the traditional human diet. In the present study we have investigated the levels of POPs in gull eggs in order to determine the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) for humans. Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) were measured in 214 gull eggs collected in the spring of 2001-02. The eggs were collected from four gull species (herring gulls (Larus argentatus), great black-backed gulls (L. marinus), lesser black-backed gulls (L. fuscus) and glaucous gulls (L. hyperboreus)) at 12 different locations in Northern Norway, on the Faroe Islands and on Svalbard. The pollutant levels in gull eggs were found to be 65.5 +/- 26.9 pg toxic equivalent (TE) for dioxin and PCB g(-1) wet weight. Based on these findings and the TWI-value determined by the EU Scientific Committee on Food it is advised that children, young women and pregnant and nursing women should not eat gull eggs. Other people should limit their intake of eggs to an absolute minimum, considering the health risks associated with gull egg intake.

Characterization of AhR agonists reveals antagonistic activity in European herring gull (Larus argentatus) eggs

“…A study on predatory birds from the UK in 2014 however, reported concentrations of PCB levels below the limit of detection to 248 pg WHO TEQ/g lw, while not detecting PCB126 in any of the samples (Pereira et al, 2014). In herring gull eggs from the north of Norway, average levels of 65.5 pg WHO TEQ/ g ww were measured (Pusch et al, 2005), and on Northern Norwegian islands, four PCB congeners with WHO TEF values (PCB105,118,156,157), were measured in herring gull eggs, with values of between 45 and 83 pg WHO TEQ/g lw (Helgason et al, 2008), while in the current study the WHO TEQ (sum of PCB105, 118, 156, 157) accounts for 9-36 pg/g lw. To summarize, the TEQ levels in the current study are up to an order of magnitude lower than eggs from the USA and a factor of between 2 and 5 times lower than herring gull eggs from Norway in studies from 2002 and 2005.…”

Effect of reduced food intake on toxicokinetics of halogenated organic contaminants in herring gull (Larus argentatus) chicks

“…Due to its high trophic position in the food web, the herring gull accumulates high levels of HOCs [19].…”

Classical Chemical Monitoring of the Marine Environment

“…The data derived (2000) from classical chemical monitoring are used to assess status and trends with respect to water chemistry, eutrophication, hazardous substances and phycotoxins. The components investigated cover water, sediment and biota (primarily fish and shellfish, but also marine mammals (Pierce et al ., 2008;Law et al ., 2010), seabird eggs (Becker, 1989;Pusch et al ., 2005) and seaweed (Caliceti et al ., 2002)), while the techniques incorporate methods that allow normalization of data as well as those that produce concentrations of compound X in component Y. Sample preparation (extraction/isolation of the analyte and associated clean-up) is, for some methodologies, relatively simple.…”