Chlorinated hydrocarbon contaminants in blood of black and turkey vultures from Savannah River Site, South Carolina, USA

• Published in: Chemosphere (Oxford) 2003-10, Vol.53 (2), p.173-182
• Main Authors: Senthil Kumar, Kurunthachalam, Bowerman, William W., DeVault, Travis L., Takasuga, Takumi, Rhodes, Olin E., Lehr Brisbin, I., Masunaga, Shigeki
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 2,3,7,8-PCDD/DFs; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Aves; Benzofurans - blood; Benzofurans - chemistry; Benzofurans - poisoning; Biological and medical sciences; Birds - blood; Black vulture; Cathartes aura; Coragyps atratus; Di- ortho PCBs; Dioxin-like PCBs; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates; Fresh Water; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; PCDD; PCDF; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - blood; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - chemistry; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - poisoning; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins - analogs & derivatives; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins - blood; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins - poisoning; South Carolina; Species Specificity; Toxic equivalent quantities (TEQs); Turkey vulture; Water Pollutants, Chemical - blood; Water Pollutants, Chemical - poisoning
• ISSN: 0045-6535; 1879-1298
• DOI: 10.1016/S0045-6535(03)00304-7

Blood of adult and juvenile black and turkey vultures in the Savannah River Site of South Carolina, USA was analyzed for the presence of 2,3,7,8-chlorine substituted polychlorinated dibenzo- p-dioxins (2,3,7,8-PCDDs), dibenzofurans (2,3,7,8-PCDFs), -dioxin-like and -di- ortho polychlorinated biphenyls. Concentration ranges of 2,3,7,8-PCDD/DFs in blood of black and turkey vultures were 14.2–34.6 and 8.7–56.2 pg/ml wet wt., respectively. Dioxin-like PCBs were in the ranges of 815–4627 and 753–3611 pg/ml wet wt. respectively, in black and turkey vultures. Considerable concentrations of two congeners of di- ortho PCBs were noticed in the ranges of 1415–10 325 and 663–7500 pg/ml respectively, in black and turkey vultures. Comparatively, greater toxic equivalency (TEQ) were observed in blood of turkey vultures with the ranges of 3.2–20, whereas black vulture contained 1.8–8.4 pg TEQ/ml wet wt. basis. The species-specific accumulation profiles of PCDD/DFs and dioxin-like PCBs may reflect the different feeding habits, ecology, metabolic capacity and migratory movements of these two scavenging species.