Feminization In Common Terns (Sterna hirundo): Relationship To Persistent Organic Contaminants

• Main Author: Hart, Constance A.
• Other Authors: MASSACHUSETTS INST OF TECH CAMBRIDGE
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1998
• Subjects: Biology; *BIRDS; ENVIRONMENTS; THESES; ORGANIC MATERIALS; CONTAMINANTS; EMBRYOS; ISLANDS; MASSACHUSETTS; AQUATIC ANIMALS; REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM; SEX GLANDS; TERNS; STERNA HIRUNDO; ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS; OVOTESTES; SEA BIRDS; ENDOCRINE DISRUPTION; FEMINIZATION; BIRD ISLAND; Bird Island; Sterna hirundo
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA353565; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA353565

The possibility of contaminant related endocrine disruption in common terns from Bird Island, Massachusetts was suggested by the presence of ovarian cortical tissue (ovotestes) in male tern embryos. Our objectives were to document the presence of ovotestes in common terns from Bird Island and Nauset, a reference site, and to examine the relationship between environmental contaminants and ovotestes development. Total PCBs and bioassay-derived dioxin equivalents were significantly higher in Bird Island tern embryo yolk sacs than those from Nauset, but were highly variable at both sites. The percentage of male tern embryos with ovotestes at Bird Island (78%) and Nauset (60%) was high and not significantly different. Prepared in cooperation with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.