Evaluation of organochlorine compounds (PCDDs, PCDFs, PCBs and DDTs) in two raptor species inhabiting a Mediterranean island in Spain

• Published in: Environmental Science and Pollution Research
• Main Authors: Jiménez, Begoña, Merino, Rubén, Abad Holgado, Esteban, Rivera Aranda, Josep, Olie, Kees
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer 2007
• Subjects: Black kites; DDTs; Dioxins; Furans; Menorca Island; Ospreys; PCBs; Raptors; Spain; Falco peregrinus; peregrine falcon; osprey; Pandion haliaetus
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/10062; https://doi.org/10.1065/espr2006.01.015

8 pages, 2 figures.-- Published online Oct 20, 2005. [Background] Species that are at high levels of the food web have often been used as bioindicators to evaluate the presence of persistent contaminants in ecosystems. Most of these species are long-lived, so pollutant burdens may be integrated in some complex way over time. This makes them particularly sensitive to deleterious effects of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). Birds have been suggested as useful organisms for monitoring pollutant levels. Traditionally such studies have been carried out with raptors such as osprey (Pandion haliaetus), peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), bald eagle (Haliaetus leucocephalus), etc. In this paper we present the results of a monitoring study conducted on two raptor species, osprey (Pandion haliaetus) and red kite (Milvus milvus), inhabiting a Mediterranean island (Menorca, Spain). These two species have different feeding habits; ospreys prey on fish and red kites feed on terrestrial species. This study constitutes a good opportunity to investigate if differences in feeding habits (aquatic vs. terrestrial) influences the contaminants pattern in two species inhabiting the same area. [Methods] The study was conducted in a non-destructive way, using only failed eggs, to avoid the damage of the population stability. Eggs were collected during the period 1994–2000. The contaminants examined were dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs, including DDT and its main metabolite, DDE), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), including ortho PCBs (PCBs with at least one Chlorine atom in the ortho position): #28, 52, 95, 101, 123+149, 118, 114, 153, 132+105, 138, 167, 156, 157, 180, 170, 189, 194; and non ortho PCBs (PCBs with no Chlorine atom in the ortho position): #77, 126, 169 and all the polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) with Chlorine atoms at the 2,3,7 and 8 position (2,3,7,8-substituted PCDDs and PCDFs). The analysis of organochlorine compounds was performed using a sample ...