Wide range of metallic and organic contaminants in various tissues of the Antarctic prion, a planktonophagous seabird from the Southern Ocean

• Published in: Science of The Total Environment
• Main Authors: Fromant, Aymeric, Carravieri, Alice, Bustamante, Paco, Labadie, Pierre, Budzinski, Hélène, Peluhet, Laurent, Churlaud, Carine, Chastel, Olivier, Cherel, Yves
• Other Authors: LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés - UMRi 7266 (LIENSs), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), UMR 5805 Environnements et Paléoenvironnements Océaniques et Continentaux (EPOC), Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers (OASU), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), ANR-10-CESA-0016,POLARTOP,Contaminants chez les prédateurs supérieurs polaires: niveaux et effets des polluants organiques et métaux lourds sur la physiologie du stress et le devenir des oiseaux marins des Terres Australes Françaises (TAAF)(2010)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2016
• Subjects: POPs; Procellariiformes; Trace elements; Blood; Feathers; Metal; [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology; Antarctic; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Kerguelen; Kerguelen Islands; Indian; Antarc*; Antarctic prion; Pachyptila desolata
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01260941; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01260941/document; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01260941/file/Fromant%20et%20al%20STOTEN%202016.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.11.114

International audience Trace elements (n=14) and persistent organic pollutants (POPs, n=30)were measured in blood, liver, kidney, muscle and feathers of 10 Antarctic prions (Pachyptila desolata) from Kerguelen Islands, southern Indian Ocean, in order to assess their concentrations, tissue distribution, and inter-tissue and inter-contaminant relationships. Liver, kidney and feathers presented the highest burdens of arsenic, cadmium and mercury, respectively. Concentrations of cadmium, copper, iron, and zinc correlated in liver and muscle, suggesting that uptake and pathways of metabolism and storage were similar for these elements. The major POPs were 4,4’-DDE, mirex, PCB-153 and PCB-138. The concentrations and tissue distribution patterns of environmental contaminants were overall in accordance with previous results in other seabirds. Conversely, some Antarctic prions showed surprisingly high concentrations of BDE-209. This compound has been rarely observed in seabirds before, and its presence in Antarctic prions could be due to the species feeding habits or to the ingestion of plastic debris. Overall, the study shows that relatively lower trophic level seabirds (zooplankton-eaters) breeding in the remote southern Indian Ocean are exposed to a wide range of environmental contaminants, in particular cadmium, selenium and some emerging-POPs, which merits further toxicological investigations.