Brominated flame retardants and organochlorines in the European environment using great tit eggs as a biomonitoring tool

Concentrations in bird feathers reflect regional contamination with organic pollutants

Feathers have recently been shown to be potentially useful non-destructive biomonitoring tools for organic pollutants. However, the suitability of feathers to monitor regional variations in contamination has not been investigated until now. Here concentrations of organic pollutants were compared in feathers of common magpies (Pica pica) between urban and rural areas in Flanders, Belgium. The results showed that concentrations of p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) were significantly higher in the rural areas (rural: 12-140 ng/g feather, urban: 1.1-7.2 ng/g feather), while polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were significantly more available in an urban environment (sum PCBs--rural: 2.9-22 ng/g feather, urban: 41-240 ng/g feather). This pattern agrees with previous studies using other tissues than feathers as a biomonitoring tool. In addition, differences in PCBs and PBDEs profiles were found with lower halogenated congeners being more prominent in the urban areas in comparison to the rural areas. In summary, feathers seem to reflect regional variations in contamination, which strengthens their usefulness as a non-destructive biomonitor for organic pollutants.

Interspecific differences in concentrations and congener profiles of chlorinated and brominated organic pollutants in three insectivorous bird species

We investigated the accumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in eggs of three insectivorous bird species, the great tit (Parus major), the Northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) and the Mediterranean gull (Larus melanocephalus), near the harbour of Antwerp (Belgium). Our results show that lapwing eggs had the highest median concentrations of PCBs (4358 ng/g lw) and PBDEs (109 ng/g lw). Mediterranean gulls feed during breeding on ground-dwelling invertebrates on agricultural fields, which is reflected in higher OCP concentrations in eggs (1235 ng/g lw). Apart from differences in accumulation, also interspecific differences in contaminant profiles were investigated. Significant differences among species were found in the profile of PCBs, PBDEs and OCPs. These differences could be attributed to differences in diet, behaviour and metabolic capacity. Interestingly, the OCP profile in lapwing eggs deviated extremely from the two other species. In both great tit and Mediterranean gull eggs p,p'-DDE was by far the most important compound, whereas in lapwing eggs hexachlorobenzene, oxychlordane, trans-nonachlor and even p,p'-DDT were relatively more abundant than p,p'-DDE. The high p,p'-DDT/p,p'-DDE ratio has previously been described in lapwings, which suggests that low p,p'-DDE accumulation in eggs might be inherent for this species.