A first evaluation of the usefulness of feathers of nestling predatory birds for non-destructive biomonitoring of persistent organic pollutants

In previous studies, feathers of adult predatory birds have been evaluated as valid non-destructive biomonitor matrices for persistent organic pollutants (POPs). In this study, we assessed for the first time the usefulness of nestling raptor feathers for non-destructive biomonitoring of POPs. For th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environment International
Main Authors: Eulaers, Igor, Covaci, Adrian, Herzke, Dorte, Eens, Marcel, Sonne, Christian, Moum, Truls, Schnug, Lisbeth, Hanssen, Sveinn Are, Johnsen, Trond Vidar, Bustnes, Jan Ove, Jaspers, Veerle L B
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2011
Subjects:
Animals
Environmental Monitoring
Environmental Pollutants
Environmental Pollution
Falconiformes
Feathers
Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers
Nesting Behavior
Organic Chemicals
Polychlorinated Biphenyls
Predatory Behavior
Norway
Accipiter gentilis
Haliaeetus albicilla
Northern Norway
Aquila chrysaetos
Online Access:https://pure.au.dk/portal/da/publications/a-first-evaluation-of-the-usefulness-of-feathers-of-nestling-predatory-birds-for-nondestructive-biomonitoring-of-persistent-organic-pollutants(8e5a9753-0164-4c04-a8e1-b23a2e0b8eb4).html
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2010.12.007
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Summary:In previous studies, feathers of adult predatory birds have been evaluated as valid non-destructive biomonitor matrices for persistent organic pollutants (POPs). In this study, we assessed for the first time the usefulness of nestling raptor feathers for non-destructive biomonitoring of POPs. For this purpose, we collected body feathers and blood of nestlings from three avian top predators from northern Norway: northern goshawks (Accipiter gentilis), white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos). We were able to detect a broad spectrum of legacy POPs in the nestling feathers of all three species (Σ PCBs: 6.78-140ng g(-1); DDE: 3.15-145ng g(-1); Σ PBDEs: 0.538-7.56ng g(-1)). However, these concentrations were lower compared to other studies on raptor species, probably due to the aspect of monitoring of nestlings instead of adults. Besides their analytical suitability, nestling feathers also appear to be biologically informative: concentrations of most POPs in nestling feathers showed strong and significant correlations with blood plasma concentrations in all species (p

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