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Abstract title
Using banked seabird eggs for long-term monitoring of contaminants in the Alaska marine ecosystem
Author
Becker, Paul, NIST/Hollings Marine Laboratory, Charleston South Carolina, United States of America(P)
Co-author(s)
Vander Pol, Stacy, NIST/Hollings Marine Laboratory, Charleston South Carolina, United States of America
Day, Rusty, NIST/Hollings Marine Laboratory, Charleston South Carolina, United States of America
Moors, Amanda, NIST/Hollings Marine Laboratory, Charleston South Carolina, United States of America
Pugh, Rebecca, NIST/Hollings Marine Laboratory, Charleston South Carolina, United States of America
Point, David, Laboratoire des Mécanismes et Transferts en Géologie, Toulouse, France
Roseneau, David, US Fish and Wildlife Service/Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Homer Alaska, United States of America
Keywords
Alaska, banking, contaminants, seabirds
Bird eggs are used by specimen banking programs in several countries for real-time and retrospective analysis to determine geographic and temporal trends in environmental contaminant levels. The Seabird Tissue Archival and Monitoring Project (STAMP) is using the contents of seabird eggs to monitor contaminant levels in the Alaska marine ecosystem and is banking eggs for future research and retrospective analysis. Analysis of banked eggs of common and thick-billed murres (Uria aalge and U. lomvia) from the marine regions of Alaska indicated significantly higher levels of PCBs, 4,4’-DDE, and BDE-47 in murres from the Gulf of Alaska compared to those from the Bering and Chukchi seas. The opposite trend was found for levels of the higher volatile compounds (i.e., HCB, pentachlorobenzene, and octachlorostyrene). These compounds tended to increase with increasing latitude in colony locations. Mercury levels were almost 100% methylmercury and and were significantly higher in the Gulf of Alaska colonies than in the Chukchi Sea and Bering Sea colonies. The exception to this was Norton Sound, where colonies had significantly higher levels (P<0.0001) of mercury than murre colonies in the rest of the Bering Sea. Temporal comparisons for selected colonies suggest that from 1999 to 2005, levels of some legacy POPs (i.e., PCBs, 4,4’-DDE, HCB, and oxychlordane) have decreased in common murres from the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea. However, temporal patterns of mercury varied among the Alaska colonies. Although analysis of banked eggs for one group of brominated flame retardants (i.e., BDEs) has begun, other compounds of emerging concern have yet to be addressed.