Uptake of Planar Polychlorinated Biphenyls and 2,3,7,8-Substituted Polychlorinated Dibenzofurans and Dibenzo-p-dioxins by Birds Nesting in the Lower Fox River and Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA

摘要

The uptake of persistent polychlorinated hydrocarbons (PCHs) by four avian species was investigated at upper trophic levels of two aquatic food chains of the lower Fox River and Green Bay, Wisconsin. Accumulation to total and specific planar polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (PCDDs), and H4IIE rat hepatoma cell bioassay-derived 2,37,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin equivalents (TCDD-EQ) was evaluated in Forster's tern (Sterna forsteri) and common tern (Sterna hirundo) chicks, and in tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) and red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) nestlings from colonies nesting in several locations within the watershed. Concentrations of the PCHs were greatest in eggs and chicks of the two tern species, less in the tree swallows and least in the red-winged blackbirds.