Organochlorine contaminants in bald eagles and double-crested cormorants nesting along the lower Columbia River
- Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland, OR (United States)
- National Biological Service, Corvallis, OR (United States)
- National Biological Service, Columbia, MO (United States). Midwest Science Center
The Columbia River receives numerous contaminants from municipal and industrial permitted discharges, nonpoint pollution, accidental spills, and hazardous waste sites. Poor reproductive success has been documented in bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nesting along the river, and concentrations of DDE and PCBs in eagle eggs has been correlated with reduced productivity and significant eggshell thinning. Recently, elevated 2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) concentrations also were detected in embryos of bald eagles and double-crested cormorants. The authors collected eggs from 11 bald eagle nest sites in 1994 and from 10 cormorant nest sites in 1993 and 1994 and found organochlorines at concentrations potentially harmful to the species. DDE, PCBS, and 2,3,7,8-TCDD in bald eagle eggs averaged 6.84 parts per million (ppm), 6.15 ppm, and 30 parts per trillion (pptr)fresh weight, respectively. In cormorant eggs, fresh weight values ranged from 1.14 to 13.1 ppm for DDE, 0.98 to 9.67 for total PCBS, and 4.8 to 58 pptr for 2,3,7,8-TCDD. Cormorant eggs subjected to a H4IIE rat hepatoma cell bioassay indicated the amounts of TCDD-Equivalents (TCDD-EQs) present would relate to a 23% egg mortality when compared to dose-response relationships between H4IIE-derived TCDD-EQs and egg mortality rates in double-crested cormorants in the Great Lakes. Preliminary results suggest DDE continues to impair reproductive success in Columbia River bald eagles, and dioxin and PCB concentrations may be impacting double-crested cormorants. Further egg analysis and productivity studies will be conducted in 1995.
- OSTI ID:
- 218482
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137-; ISBN 1-880611-03-1; TRN: IM9619%%203
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) world conference, Vancouver (Canada), 5-9 Nov 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Second SETAC world congress (16. annual meeting): Abstract book. Global environmental protection: Science, politics, and common sense; PB: 378 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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