Contamination assessment of a Moorhen Gallinula chloropus clutch found in a highway stormwater retention pond in southern France

摘要

Since the passing of the water law in 1992, French highway companies have built many stormwater retention ponds alongside roads in order to collect road runoff and prevent crossed landscape from pollution. These small wetlands have been rapidly colonised by wildlife despite their attested contamination by road by-products such as trace metals, hydrocarbons and herbicides. The study of 5 stormwater ponds in southern France, undertaken as a part of a PhD, was an occasion to measure these contaminants in some moorhen eggs. We found high concentration of zinc and PCB traces which highlight an overall contamination of our environment.