Assessment of contaminant levels and trophic relations at a World Heritage Site by measurements in a characteristic shorebird species

• Published in: Environmental research 2015-01, Vol.136, p.163-172
• Main Authors: Schwemmer, Philipp, Covaci, Adrian, Das, Krishna, Lepoint, Gilles, Adler, Sven, Garthe, Stefan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ANIMAL TISSUES; Animals; Aquatic sciences & oceanology; Assessments; Belgium; Birds - metabolism; BLOOD; BUILDUP; CHARGES; COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS; Contaminants; CONTAMINATION; DDT; EARTH PLANET; Ecology; Ekologi; ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Environmental sciences & ecology; Ethers; Eurasian oystercatcher; EUROPE; FEATHERS; FEEDING; Freshwater; GLOBAL ASPECTS; Haematopus ostralegus; Historic sites; Life sciences; METABOLITES; PBDE; PBDEs; PCB; PCBs; PHENYL ETHER; PLANT TISSUES; pollutants; POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS; RIVERS; Sciences aquatiques & océanologie; Sciences de l’environnement & écologie; Sciences du vivant; Serums; STABLE ISOTOPES; Tissue Distribution; WADDEN SEA; Water Pollutants, Chemical - metabolism; Water Pollutants, Chemical - pharmacokinetics
• ISSN: 0013-9351; 1096-0953; 1096-0953
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2014.10.021

The River Elbe is responsible for influxes of contaminants into the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site. We investigated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), oxychlordane (OxC), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), hexachlorocyclohexanes (α-, β-, γ-HCHs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in blood and feathers from Eurasian oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus; n=28) at the Elbe and compared it with a non-riverine site about 90km further north. (1) Mean levels of all contaminants in feathers and serum were significantly higher at the river (∑PCBs: 27.6ng/g feather, 37.0ng/ml serum; ∑DDTs: 5.3ng/g feather, 4.4ng/ml serum) compared with the non-riverine site (∑PCBs: 6.5ng/g feather, 1.2ng/ml serum; ∑DDTs: 1.4ng/g feather, 0.5ng/ml serum). Mean ∑HCH and HCB levels were