Evidence of continued exposure to legacy persistent organic pollutants in threatened migratory common terns nesting in the Great Lakes
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) accumulate in the food web of the Great Lakes ecosystem, causing concern that these chemicals play a role in the decline of avian species such as colonial-nesting waterbirds. In this study, samples from four life stages of the common tern (Sterna hirundo), a thre...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:049e5436b0124d99ab49c59f40fd9ec2 2023-05-15T15:56:20+02:00 Evidence of continued exposure to legacy persistent organic pollutants in threatened migratory common terns nesting in the Great Lakes Steven C. Travis Alicia Pérez-Fuentetaja Diana S. Aga 2020-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.106065 https://doaj.org/article/049e5436b0124d99ab49c59f40fd9ec2 EN eng Elsevier http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412020320201 https://doaj.org/toc/0160-4120 0160-4120 doi:10.1016/j.envint.2020.106065 https://doaj.org/article/049e5436b0124d99ab49c59f40fd9ec2 Environment International, Vol 144, Iss , Pp 106065- (2020) Organochlorines Brominated flame retardants Food web Bioaccumulation Birds Fish Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.106065 2022-12-31T02:15:44Z Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) accumulate in the food web of the Great Lakes ecosystem, causing concern that these chemicals play a role in the decline of avian species such as colonial-nesting waterbirds. In this study, samples from four life stages of the common tern (Sterna hirundo), a threatened species in New York State, were collected post-mortem in the Buffalo-Niagara region (United States). Brains (n = 26) and livers (n =27) were analyzed for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and the insecticide p,p’-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its two metabolites p,p’-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) and p,p’-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (DDD). Detectable concentrations of PCBs and PBDEs were observed in all samples; concentrations of total PCBs ranged from 5.59 to 2,490 ng/g wet weight (ww), total PBDEs ranged from 1.09 to 494 ng/g ww, and DDE metabolites ranged from 0.56 to 637 ng/g ww. Analysis of the primary food source for terns in the Buffalo-Niagara region, emerald shiners (Notropis atherinoides), revealed that all three classes of POPs had similar contaminant profiles in the fish to those in the brains and livers of tern samples. Overall, small chicks contained greater concentrations of pollutants than medium chicks and juveniles, likely from maternal loading to eggs. These results underline the persistence of these legacy contaminants in the Great Lakes, despite their banning, and their biomagnification in threatened species through food web interactions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Common tern Sterna hirundo Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Environment International 144 106065 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Organochlorines Brominated flame retardants Food web Bioaccumulation Birds Fish Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
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Organochlorines Brominated flame retardants Food web Bioaccumulation Birds Fish Environmental sciences GE1-350 Steven C. Travis Alicia Pérez-Fuentetaja Diana S. Aga Evidence of continued exposure to legacy persistent organic pollutants in threatened migratory common terns nesting in the Great Lakes |
topic_facet |
Organochlorines Brominated flame retardants Food web Bioaccumulation Birds Fish Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) accumulate in the food web of the Great Lakes ecosystem, causing concern that these chemicals play a role in the decline of avian species such as colonial-nesting waterbirds. In this study, samples from four life stages of the common tern (Sterna hirundo), a threatened species in New York State, were collected post-mortem in the Buffalo-Niagara region (United States). Brains (n = 26) and livers (n =27) were analyzed for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and the insecticide p,p’-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its two metabolites p,p’-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) and p,p’-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (DDD). Detectable concentrations of PCBs and PBDEs were observed in all samples; concentrations of total PCBs ranged from 5.59 to 2,490 ng/g wet weight (ww), total PBDEs ranged from 1.09 to 494 ng/g ww, and DDE metabolites ranged from 0.56 to 637 ng/g ww. Analysis of the primary food source for terns in the Buffalo-Niagara region, emerald shiners (Notropis atherinoides), revealed that all three classes of POPs had similar contaminant profiles in the fish to those in the brains and livers of tern samples. Overall, small chicks contained greater concentrations of pollutants than medium chicks and juveniles, likely from maternal loading to eggs. These results underline the persistence of these legacy contaminants in the Great Lakes, despite their banning, and their biomagnification in threatened species through food web interactions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Steven C. Travis Alicia Pérez-Fuentetaja Diana S. Aga |
author_facet |
Steven C. Travis Alicia Pérez-Fuentetaja Diana S. Aga |
author_sort |
Steven C. Travis |
title |
Evidence of continued exposure to legacy persistent organic pollutants in threatened migratory common terns nesting in the Great Lakes |
title_short |
Evidence of continued exposure to legacy persistent organic pollutants in threatened migratory common terns nesting in the Great Lakes |
title_full |
Evidence of continued exposure to legacy persistent organic pollutants in threatened migratory common terns nesting in the Great Lakes |
title_fullStr |
Evidence of continued exposure to legacy persistent organic pollutants in threatened migratory common terns nesting in the Great Lakes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evidence of continued exposure to legacy persistent organic pollutants in threatened migratory common terns nesting in the Great Lakes |
title_sort |
evidence of continued exposure to legacy persistent organic pollutants in threatened migratory common terns nesting in the great lakes |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.106065 https://doaj.org/article/049e5436b0124d99ab49c59f40fd9ec2 |
genre |
Common tern Sterna hirundo |
genre_facet |
Common tern Sterna hirundo |
op_source |
Environment International, Vol 144, Iss , Pp 106065- (2020) |
op_relation |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412020320201 https://doaj.org/toc/0160-4120 0160-4120 doi:10.1016/j.envint.2020.106065 https://doaj.org/article/049e5436b0124d99ab49c59f40fd9ec2 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.106065 |
container_title |
Environment International |
container_volume |
144 |
container_start_page |
106065 |
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1766391784919793664 |