Plasma concentrations of organohalogenated pollutants in predatory bird nestlings:Associations to growth rate and dietary tracers

• Published in: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
• Main Authors: Bustnes, Jan O, Bårdsen, Bård J, Herzke, Dorte, Johnsen, Trond V, Eulaers, Igor, Ballesteros, Manuel, Hanssen, Sveinn A, Covaci, Adrian, Jaspers, Veerle L B, Eens, Marcel, Sonne, Christian, Halley, Duncan, Moum, Truls, Nøst, Therese Haugdal, Erikstad, Kjell E, Ims, Rolf Anker
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Accipiter gentilis; Haliaeetus albicilla; White-tailed eagle
• Online Access: https://pure.au.dk/portal/da/publications/plasma-concentrations-of-organohalogenated-pollutants-in-predatory-bird-nestlings(89bb80b9-c8c4-4a06-9f92-33d90a4b2933).html; https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.2329

The extent to which persistent organic pollutants (POPs) with different physicochemical properties originated from the food (dietary input) was assessed in raptor nestlings. Lipophilic polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) 153, 1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene (p,p'-DDE), and hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and protein-bound perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), were measured repeatedly in blood plasma of individual goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) and white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) nestlings, 1 to 3 wk after hatching and near fledging. Maternally derived POPs dilute as nestlings grow (growth dilution), and increasing plasma concentrations would indicate dietary input. First, plasma concentrations given no dietary input were estimated, and concentrations of p,p'-DDE, HCB, and notably PFOS were significantly higher than predicted from a growth-dilution scenario (approximately 1.5-fold to 2.5-fold higher; p