Incubation stage and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congener patterns in an altricial and precocial bird species

Retrospective: Adjusting Contaminant Concentrations in Bird Eggs to Account for Moisture and Lipid Loss During Their Incubation

“…The ''assumption'' of no in ovo contaminant metabolism during incubation, which could significantly affect residue concentrations, was mentioned (Peakall and Gilman 1979). We have since learned that in ovo metabolism of xenobiotics affects the concentration of some compounds (e.g., petroleum hydrocarbons, Näf et al 1992), but not others (e.g., PCBs, Custer et al 2014). Hoyt (1979) suggested that the most accurate method to predict fresh egg weight was by refilling the air cell with water; the speed, accuracy and simplicity of this method was demonstrated some 30 years later (Heinz et al 2009).…”