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Quadri-Adrogué A, Gómez-Ramírez P, García-Fernández AJ, García GO, Seco-Pon JP, Miglioranza KSB. Feather mercury levels in beached Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) in northern Argentina during the non-breeding season. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2022; 29:24793-24801. [PMID: 34826079 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-17539-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 11/11/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Mercury (Hg) is a great concern for marine environments. Bird feathers have been widely used to assess Hg pollution. In this study, we determine mercury concentrations in body feathers of juvenile Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) from the southeastern sector of Buenos Aires province, Argentina, during a non-breeding season, considering both sexes. Hg levels, considering both females and males together, ranged between 265.5 and 1515.52 ng/g. These levels are well below the concentrations in feathers suggested for taking actions focused on the protection of seabirds. Non-significant differences between sexes regarding Hg levels were found, probably because juveniles were sexually immature and females did not excrete Hg by egg laying yet. Hg concentrations found in this study were an order of magnitude higher than those reported 10 years ago for the species in breeding areas on the Argentine coast. Thus, the present study provides relevant information indicating a possible increase of Hg pollution in the southwestern region of the Atlantic Ocean and thus trigger for the development of monitoring programs and regional strategies to improve the conservation status of this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agustina Quadri-Adrogué
- Laboratorio de Ecotoxicología y Contaminación Ambiental, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes 3350, 7600, Mar del Plata, Argentina
- Laboratorio de Vertebrados, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes 3350, 7600, Mar del Plata, Argentina
| | - Pilar Gómez-Ramírez
- Toxicology and Risk Assessment Research Group, IMIB‑Arrixaca, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100, Murcia, Spain
| | - Antonio Juan García-Fernández
- Toxicology and Risk Assessment Research Group, IMIB‑Arrixaca, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100, Murcia, Spain
| | - Germán Oscar García
- Laboratorio de Vertebrados, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes 3350, 7600, Mar del Plata, Argentina
- Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC) (UNMDP-CONICET), Mar del Plata, Argentina
| | - Juan Pablo Seco-Pon
- Laboratorio de Vertebrados, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes 3350, 7600, Mar del Plata, Argentina.
- Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC) (UNMDP-CONICET), Mar del Plata, Argentina.
| | - Karina Silvia Beatriz Miglioranza
- Laboratorio de Ecotoxicología y Contaminación Ambiental, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes 3350, 7600, Mar del Plata, Argentina
- Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC) (UNMDP-CONICET), Mar del Plata, Argentina
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Quadri-Adrogué A, Seco Pon JP, García GO, Castano MV, Copello S, Favero M, Beatriz Miglioranza KS. Chlorpyrifos and persistent organic pollutants in feathers of the near threatened Olrog's Gull in southeastern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Environ Pollut 2021; 272:115918. [PMID: 33143978 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2020] [Revised: 10/19/2020] [Accepted: 10/22/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The use of bird feathers to assess environmental contamination has steadily increased in ecotoxicological monitoring programs over the past decade. The Olrog's Gull (Larus atlanticus) is a species endemic to the Atlantic coast of southern South America, constituting one of the three threatened gull species listed in the entire American continent. The aim of this study was to assess the exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and chlorpyrifos in the Near Threatened Olrog's Gull through the analysis of body feathers sampled at the Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon, the main wintering area of the species in Argentina, controlling for sex and age class. Chlorpyrifos showed the highest concentrations among all contaminants and groups of individuals (X¯ = 263 ng g-1), while among POPs the concentration of organochlorine pesticides was higher than polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers, likely indicating the current use of these agricultural contaminant in the region. The highest values of total POP concentrations (males X¯ = 280 ng g-1, females X¯ = 301 ng g-1) were found in juvenile gulls, likely as a consequence of the incorporation of pollutants during the breeding season. Subadult and adult birds showed difference between sexes in the concentration of contaminants, with higher levels in males than females. The results highlight the need to include birds of different sex and age classes in order to better understand the variation in pollutants loads. The present study provides relevant information to improve the conservation status of the Olrog's Gull and new insights about the environmental health of the Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon, Argentina, a MAB-UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. However, there is a continued need for long-term monitoring programs focusing on this threatened species to understand the effects of pollutants on its population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agustina Quadri-Adrogué
- Laboratorio de Ecotoxicología y Contaminación Ambiental, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes, 3350, Mar del Plata (7600), Argentina; Laboratorio de Vertebrados, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes, 3350, Mar del Plata (7600), Argentina
| | - Juan Pablo Seco Pon
- Laboratorio de Vertebrados, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes, 3350, Mar del Plata (7600), Argentina; Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC) (UNMDP-CONICET), Argentina.
| | - Germán Oscar García
- Laboratorio de Vertebrados, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes, 3350, Mar del Plata (7600), Argentina; Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC) (UNMDP-CONICET), Argentina
| | - Melina Vanesa Castano
- Laboratorio de Vertebrados, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes, 3350, Mar del Plata (7600), Argentina; Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC) (UNMDP-CONICET), Argentina
| | - Sofia Copello
- Laboratorio de Vertebrados, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes, 3350, Mar del Plata (7600), Argentina; Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC) (UNMDP-CONICET), Argentina
| | - Marco Favero
- Laboratorio de Vertebrados, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes, 3350, Mar del Plata (7600), Argentina; Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC) (UNMDP-CONICET), Argentina
| | - Karina Silvia Beatriz Miglioranza
- Laboratorio de Ecotoxicología y Contaminación Ambiental, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes, 3350, Mar del Plata (7600), Argentina; Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC) (UNMDP-CONICET), Argentina
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Sun J, Covaci A, Bustnes JO, Jaspers VLB, Helander B, Bårdsen BJ, Boertmann D, Dietz R, Labansen AL, Lepoint G, Schulz R, Malarvannan G, Sonne C, Thorup K, Tøttrup AP, Zubrod JP, Eens M, Eulaers I. Temporal trends of legacy organochlorines in different white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) subpopulations: A retrospective investigation using archived feathers. Environ Int 2020; 138:105618. [PMID: 32169675 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2019] [Revised: 02/26/2020] [Accepted: 02/27/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the spatiotemporal patterns of legacy organochlorines (OCs) is often difficult because monitoring practices differ among studies, fragmented study periods, and unaccounted confounding by ecological variables. We therefore reconstructed long-term (1939-2015) and large-scale (West Greenland, Norway, and central Sweden) trends of major legacy OCs using white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) body feathers, to understand the exposure dynamics in regions with different contamination sources and concentrations, as well as the effectiveness of legislations. We included dietary proxies (δ13C and δ15N) in temporal trend models to control for potential dietary plasticity. Consistent with the hypothesised high local pollution sources, levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) and hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) in the Swedish subpopulation exceeded those in the other subpopulations. In contrast, chlordanes (CHLs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) showed higher concentrations in Greenland, suggesting the importance of long-range transport. The models showed significantly decreasing trends for all OCs in Sweden in 1968-2011 except for CHLs, which only decreased since the 1980s. Nevertheless, median concentrations of DDTs and PCBs remained elevated in the Swedish subpopulation throughout the 1970s, suggesting that the decreases only commenced after the implementation of regulations during the 1970s. We observed significant trends of increasing concentrations of PCBs, CHLs and HCB in Norway from the 1930s to the 1970s/1980s and decreasing concentrations thereafter. All OC concentrations, except those of PCBs were generally significantly decreasing in the Greenland subpopulation in 1985-2013. All three subpopulations showed generally increasing proportions of the more persistent compounds (CB 153, p.p'-DDE and β-HCH) and decreasing proportions of the less persistent ones (CB 52, p.p'-DDT, α- and γ-HCH). Declining trends of OC concentrations may imply the decreasing influence of legacy OCs in these subpopulations. Finally, our results demonstrate the usefulness of archived museum feathers in retrospective monitoring of spatiotemporal trends of legacy OCs using birds of prey as sentinels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiachen Sun
- Behavioural Ecology & Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium.
| | - Adrian Covaci
- Toxicological Centre, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Jan Ove Bustnes
- Arctic Ecology Department, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, FRAM - High North Research Centre on Climate and the Environment, Hjalmar Johansens Gate 14, PO Box 6606, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
| | - Veerle L B Jaspers
- Environmental Toxicology Group, Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Høgskoleringen 5, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Björn Helander
- Environmental Research & Monitoring, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Frescativägen 40, PO Box 50007, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Bård-Jørgen Bårdsen
- Arctic Ecology Department, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, FRAM - High North Research Centre on Climate and the Environment, Hjalmar Johansens Gate 14, PO Box 6606, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
| | - David Boertmann
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, PO Box 358, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Rune Dietz
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, PO Box 358, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Aili Lage Labansen
- Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Kivioq 2, PO Box 570, GL-3900 Nuuk, Greenland
| | - Gilles Lepoint
- MARE Centre, Oceanology, University of Liège, Allée de la Chimie 3, 4000 Liège, Belgium
| | - Ralf Schulz
- iES Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, Fortstrasse 7, 76829 Landau, Germany
| | - Govindan Malarvannan
- Toxicological Centre, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Christian Sonne
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, PO Box 358, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Kasper Thorup
- Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Anders P Tøttrup
- Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
| | - Jochen P Zubrod
- iES Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, Fortstrasse 7, 76829 Landau, Germany
| | - Marcel Eens
- Behavioural Ecology & Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Igor Eulaers
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, PO Box 358, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark.
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