Toxaphene and other persistent organochlorine pesticides in three species of albatrosses from the north and south Pacific Ocean

Abstract

Toxaphene and other persistent organochlorine (OC) pesticides (chlordane-related compounds [sigmaCHL], DDT-related compounds [sigmaDDT], hexachlorocyclohexanes [sigmaHCH], tris(p-chloro-phenyl)methane, hexachlorobenzene, octachlorostyrene, dieldrin) were determined in fat of Laysan albatross (Diomedea immutabilis) and in fat and eggs of blackfooted albatross (Diomedea nigripes) from the central north Pacific Ocean. The HCH isomers and chlordane- and DDT-related compounds were also determined in eggs of northern royal albatross (Diomedea sanfordi) collected in New Zealand. Toxaphene was detected in fat samples at mean +/- standard deviation (SD) levels ranging from 243 +/- 61 ng/g wet weight in Laysan albatross to 1,020 +/- 237 ng/g wet weight in blackfooted albatross. These levels were higher than sigmaCHL and sigmaHCH but lower than sigmaDDT. In eggs of blackfooted albatross, toxaphene was the major OC pesticide, averaging 513 ng/g wet weight in two pooled samples compared with 293 ng/g wet weight for sigmaDDT. Two toxaphene congeners, the octachloroborane B8-1413 (Parlar 26) and the nonachlorobornane B9-1679 (P50), comprised about 38% of total toxaphene in both albatross species. All OC compounds were present at significantly higher levels in blackfooted than Laysan albatross fat with the exception of sigmaHCH, dieldrin, and octachlorostyrene. Mean levels of sigmaDDT and sigmaHCH in northern royal albatross eggs from New Zealand were 4 and 60 times lower, respectively, than in blackfooted albatross eggs. The pattern of OC pesticide accumulation was consistent with differences in distribution of the three species in the Pacific Ocean, with highest levels in blackfooted albatross, which feed off the west coast of North America, intermediate levels in Laysan albatross, which frequent the western Pacific, and lowest levels in northern royal albatross, which are confined to the southern oceans surrounding the Antarctic.

Enantiomer-specific biomagnification of α-Hexachlorocyclohexane and selected chiral chlordane-related compounds within an arctic marine food web

“…The chiral octa‐Cl‐substituted chlordane congeners, MC5, MC7, and U82, are present as minor components of the technical mixture (6.1% for MC5 and 2.2% for U82 and MC7) [34]. However, all three isomers have been quantified in higher‐trophic biota at significantly greater concentrations compared to other isomers that predominate technical CHLOR [22,27,35].…”

Trace metals, stable isotope ratios, and trophic relations in seabirds from the North Pacific Ocean

“…Based on the Hg and δ 15 N data here, as well as relative concentrations of persistent organochlorine compounds [21], black‐footed albatross were feeding at a higher trophic level than Laysan's albatross, the reverse of the conclusion of Harrison [23]. It was suggested that higher organochlorine contaminant concentrations in black‐footed compared to Laysan's were due to differences in feeding areas, black‐footed spending more time along the coast of North America [43]; however, the data for δ 15 N and metals, as well as organochlorine compounds [21], suggest that trophic level is a more important factor.…”

The albatross about our neck :

“…HCB, a persistent organic fungicide banned under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), has been measured in albatrosses but no effect is expected given the low levels found. HCBs ranged from 2.36 ng/g wet mass in Pacific Albatross eggs collected from Chatham Island in 1996 [83] to 12.2 ng/g wet mass in Black-Footed eggs collected from Midway Atoll in 1994-1995 [86] (Table S11). Reproduction and chick survival was normal in American Kestrels (Falco sparverius), Canadian Geese (Branta canadensis), and Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) with levels above 2400 ng/g wet mass in eggs as previously reviewed [87].…”