Transfer and accumulation of organochlorines from black-crowned night-heron eggs to chicks
- National Biological Survey, LaCrosse, WI (United States)
Eggs and sibling 1-, 3-, and 5-d-old chicks from seven black-crowned night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) broods were collected from Green Bay, Wisconsin, and analyzed for organochlorines. The concentration of nine organochlorines either decreased or remained the same as the chicks grew older. In contrast, the total mass of these nine organochlorines increased or remained the same as the chicks grew older. Accumulation rates of mass between egg and 5-d-old chicks for each of the nine organochlorines were positive and varied from 0.2 {mu}g/d (p,p{prime}-DDT) to 42 {mu}g/d (PCBs). These results suggest that the loss of contaminant mass from eggs to chicks reported in some earlier studies was because the entire carcass was not analyzed. These results also support the use of contaminant accumulation rates as an indicator of local contamination.
- OSTI ID:
- 31818
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Vol. 14, Issue 3; Other Information: PBD: Mar 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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