Shell thinning and residues of organochlorines and mercury in seabird eggs, Eastern Canada, 1970-76
Pearce, P.A.; Peakall, D.B.; Reynolds, L.M.
Pesticides Monitoring Journal 13(2): 61-68
1979
ISSN/ISBN: 0031-6156 PMID: 117427 Document Number: 151802
Organochlorine and Hg concentrations are reported for 252 eggs of Leach's storm-petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa), double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus), common eider (Somateria mollissima), common tern (Sterna hirundo), razorbill (Alca torda), common murre (Uria aalge), black guillemot (Cepphus grylle) and Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) from the Bay of Fundy, the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the open Atlantic shore of Canada during 1970-1976. Concentrations of all organochlorines except DDE and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) were low. DDE, PCB and Hg residues were highest in cormorant and petrel, intermediate in alcids and lowest in eider and tern. Temporal and spatial aspects of contamination patterns are discussed. Only in cormorants were DDE residues high enough to cause, through eggshell thinning, local population declines.