Persistent organic pollutant levels and the importance of source proximity in Baltic and Svalbard breeding common eiders

Abstract

The distance to sources and the long-range transport potential of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are important in understanding the impact of anthropogenic pollution on natural seabird populations. The present study documented blood concentrations of POPs in the Baltic Sea (Tvärminne, Finland) population of common eiders (Somateria mollissima) in 2009 and in 2011 and compared the concentrations with the presumably less exposed Arctic population in Svalbard (Kongsfjorden, Norway). The Baltic population had 26, 10, and 5 times greater concentrations of hexachlorocyclohexane, polychlorinated biphenyls, and p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene than the Svalbard population. Unexpectedly, concentrations of chlordanes were higher in Svalbard eiders, whereas concentrations of hexachlorobenzenes (HCBs) did not differ between the 2 populations. Although the similar HCB levels may partly be explained by the high transport potential of HCBs, unknown factors may have been more important than distance to sources and long-range transport potential for the chlordanes. One plausible explanation may be that the fasting-related redistribution of POPs from fat to blood was greater throughout the incubation in Arctic eiders, causing them to have higher blood levels of these POPs at the end of incubation. The blood concentrations of POPs in Baltic eiders were higher than documented in any other eider population and were comparable to levels in seabirds feeding at higher trophic positions in the food chain. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:1526-1533. © 2015 SETAC.

DNA damage in Arctic seabirds: Baseline, sensitivity to a genotoxic stressor, and association with organohalogen contaminants

“…The bird occupying the lowest trophic level, the benthic feeding common eider, had the lowest concentrations of OHCs (SOHCs 3.3 ng/g wet wt), and the top predator glaucous gull and great skua had the highest concentrations (SOHCs 255 and 895 ng/g wet wt, respectively; Table 1). This was in agreement with expectations and was consistent with previous findings [34][35][36]. There was no difference in total contaminant concentrations among the black guillemot, kittiwake, and Arctic skua, which indicates that they are feeding on similar trophic levels.…”

“…Kongsfjorden is considered a relatively clean environment with few local sources of contaminants [34]. Kongsfjorden is considered a relatively clean environment with few local sources of contaminants [34].…”

“…Nonetheless, seabirds breeding in Kongsfjorden have lower contaminant concentrations compared with populations breeding in other areas. The Baltic Sea is also considered highly polluted compared with the Barents Sea and Kongsfjorden, and common eiders breeding in the Baltic have been reported to have concentrations of contaminants that are up to 26 times higher than those in Kongsfjorden populations [34]. Reported concentrations in great skuas breeding in Bjørnøya are up to P OHCs 7900 ng/g wet weight [45], which is more than 5 times higher than in the most contaminated individual from the present study, and reported plasma concentrations of PCBs in male glaucous gulls breeding in Bjørnøya are more than twice as high as those measured in the present study [46].…”

Multiple stressors: modeling the effect of pollution, climate, and predation on viability of a sub‐arctic marine bird

“…, Fenstad et al. ). Nonetheless, as female eiders fast during the incubation, they may lose up to 40% of their body reserves (Swennen , Korschgen , Parker and Holm ), which again releases lipophilic contaminants into the blood and leads to dramatically increased blood levels of POPs (Bustnes et al.…”

“…, , Fenstad et al. ). In addition to the measured increased levels of POPs and other pollutants in the blood, the effect of pollution on common eiders in the literature is mainly physiological (Wayland et al.…”