Congener specific accumulation and toxic assessment of polychlorinated biphenyls in common cormorants, Phalacrocorax carbo, from Lake Biwa, Japan

Isomer-specific accumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) including di-, mono- and non- ortho congeners and hepatic P-450 activities were determined in adult common cormorants from Lake Biwa, Japan. The mean total PCB levels in male and female birds were 7.2 ± 6.1 and 2.1 ± 0.74 μg g −1 wet w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental pollution (1987) 1997, Vol.96 (3), p.425-433
Main Authors: Guruge, Keerthi Siri, Tanabe, Shinsuke
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied ecology
Aves
Biological and medical sciences
congener
Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution
Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Lake Biwa
PCB
Phalacrocorax carbo
toxic assessment
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Summary:Isomer-specific accumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) including di-, mono- and non- ortho congeners and hepatic P-450 activities were determined in adult common cormorants from Lake Biwa, Japan. The mean total PCB levels in male and female birds were 7.2 ± 6.1 and 2.1 ± 0.74 μg g −1 wet wt, respectively, in the liver. The highly biomagnified congeners were IUPAC 126, 153, 169, 180 and 194, whereas a higher degree of biotransformation could be observed in both meta-para chlorine unsubstituted congeners in the cormorant liver. The estimated metabolic index also showed that common cormorants had higher PB-type enzyme activities than some avian and marine mammals but poor MC-type enzyme activities. The concentrations of non- ortho coplanar congeners were in the order of IUPAC 126 > IUPAC 169 > IUPAC 77 with mean values 6.1 ± 5.9, 1.3 ± 1.4 and 0.43 ± 0.26 ng g −1 wet wt, respectively. The calculated mean 2,3,7,8-TCDD toxic equivalent (TEQ) concentration in cormorants was 1.8 ± 1.7 ng g −1 wet wt and was dominated by IUPAC 118, followed by IUPAC 126. A significant increase of ethoxyresorufin- O-deethylase (EROD) and pentoxyresorufin- O-deethylase (PROD) activities was observed with estimated TEQ of PCBs in the cormorants, suggesting that the current contamination level is sufficient for altering their biochemical responses.
ISSN:0269-7491
1873-6424
DOI:10.1016/S0269-7491(97)00045-6