Negligible Impact of Ingested Microplastics on Tissue Concentrations of Persistent Organic Pollutants in Northern Fulmars off Coastal Norway

Abstract

The northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) is defined as an indicator species of plastic pollution by the Oslo-Paris Convention for the North-East Atlantic, but few data exist for fulmars from Norway. Moreover, the relationship between uptake of plastic and pollutants in seabirds is poorly understood. We analyzed samples of fulmars from Norwegian waters and compared the POP concentrations in their liver and muscle tissue with the corresponding concentrations in the loads of ingested plastic in their stomachs, grouped as "no", "medium" (0.01-0.21 g; 1-14 pieces of plastic), or "high" (0.11-0.59 g; 15-106 pieces of plastic). POP concentrations in the plastic did not differ significantly between the high and medium plastic ingestion group for sumPCBs, sumDDTs, and sumPBDEs. By combining correlations among POP concentrations, differences in tissue concentrations of POPs between plastic ingestion subgroups, fugacity calculations, and bioaccumulation modeling, we showed that plastic is more likely to act as a passive sampler than as a vector of POPs, thus reflecting the POP profiles of simultaneously ingested prey.

Contaminants in northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) exposed to plastic

“…This report expands upon previous work by Trevail (2014) and Herzke et al (2016). For the ingested plastics, all data herein has been published previously in van Franeker et al (2013; as part of a larger dataset) and Herzke et al (2016).…”

“…For the ingested plastics, all data herein has been published previously in van Franeker et al (2013; as part of a larger dataset) and Herzke et al (2016). Trevail (2014) and Herzke et al (2016) report some contaminant data, but further analyses have been performed on the tissue samples and the data on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances and metabolites are reported here for the first time.…”

“…The materials and methods used by the authors of the different datasets are described in detail in van Franeker et al (2013), Trevail (2014) and Herzke et al (2016). However, they will be briefly outlined here.…”

“…The fulmars used in the Norway dataset were predominantly caught on long-lines in Northern Norway in 2012 and 2013 (n = 72) while three individuals were found beached in Rogaland county, as reported in Herzke et al (2016). Out of the 75 fulmars, 30 were chosen for chemical analyses at NILU, Tromsø and are the birds used for this study.…”

“…There are some indications that the POPs on ingested plastic become bioavailable and absorbed by seabirds (Ryan et al, 1988;Tanaka et al, 2013). However, there has also been indications that the contaminant exposure from ingested plastics is negligible compared to exposure from prey (Herzke et al, 2016), thus highlighting the need for further research in this area.…”