Organochlorine Contaminants in Tree Swallow Nestlings and in Adipose Tissue from Great Blue Heron Nestlings. Report No. 5.

摘要

Past and continuing discharges of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have contaminated the natural resources of the Hudson River. The Hudson River Natural Resource Trustees New York State, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Department of the Interior are conducting a natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) to assess and restore those natural resources injured by PCBs. The Hudson River and surrounding area support more than 150 species of birds, including waterfowl, wading birds, shorebirds, songbirds, and raptors. These birds are an integral part of the ecosystem and provide a number of important ecosystem services such as seed distribution, plant pollination, and insect control. Birds are also an important source of prey to other species. Birds may be exposed to PCBs through direct ingestion of contaminated water, sediment, and soil. A more important exposure pathway is likely their consumption of food items that contain PCBs derived from the Hudson River and its floodplain. PCB contaminated food items linked to the river may include fish, amphibians, benthic invertebrates, adult insects that develop from aquatic larvae, plants growing in or near the river, and mammals that forage in the floodplain. Birds are valued by the public through participation in activities such as bird-watching, nature study, and bird-feeding. Two avian species for which the Hudson River provides habitat, and which have been exposed to PCBs, are the tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) and the great blue heron (Ardea herodias). As part of the NRDA, the Trustees are documenting exposure of the natural resources of the Hudson River to PCBs. The Trustees have collected samples from these avian species for contaminants analysis. This report addresses tree swallow and great blue heron samples collected from the Hudson River in 1998-1999 and analyzed by the U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Columbia Environmental Research Center in Columbia, Missouri. Specifically this report provides the analytical results for seven tree swallow nestling samples and adipose tissue samples from two great blue heron nestlings which were analyzed for total PCBs and selected congeners, organochlorine pesticides, non-ortho substituted PCB congeners, and 2,3,7,8-substituted polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans.