Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in plasma and feathers of nestling birds of prey from northern Norway

peer reviewed Plasma samples from nestlings of two top predators, White-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) and Northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) from northern Norway were analysed for a wide range of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). Body feathers from the White-tailed eagles were al...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental Research
Main Authors: Gómez-Ramírez, P., Bustnes, J. O., Eulaers, I., Herzke, D., Johnsen, T. V., Lepoint, Gilles, Pérez-García, J. M., García-Fernández, A. J., Jaspers, V. L. B.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Academic Press 2017
Subjects:
Predatory birds
PFASs
Stable isotopes
biomonitoring
Norway
Life sciences
Zoology
Environmental sciences & ecology
Sciences du vivant
Zoologie
Sciences de l’environnement & écologie
Accipiter gentilis
Haliaeetus albicilla
Northern Goshawk
Northern Norway
White-tailed eagle
Online Access:https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/212267
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2017.06.019
Description
Summary:peer reviewed Plasma samples from nestlings of two top predators, White-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) and Northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) from northern Norway were analysed for a wide range of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). Body feathers from the White-tailed eagles were also analysed and significant associations between specific PFASs in blood plasma and body feathers were found (0.36 < R2 < 0.67; all p < 0.05). This result suggests that analysing body feathers of White-tailed eagle could potentially be a useful non-invasive strategy to monitor PFASs exposure in nestlings of this species. White-tailed eagles showed significantly higher levels of contaminants than Northern goshawks (plasma ∑PFASs Median = 45.83 vs 17.02 ng mL−1, p <0.05). The different exposure between both species seemed to be related to different dietary input, as quantified by stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of body feathers. A priori, the bird of prey populations studied are not at risk for PFASs, since the levels in plasma of both species were hundreds to thousand times lower than the toxic reference values reported for predatory birds. However, further studies on larger sample sizes are needed to confirm this hypothesis since toxic thresholds for nestling birds of prey are not established.

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