Spatial patterns of contaminants in arctic seabirds

A large suite of chlorinated, brominated and fluorinated organic contaminants as well as total mercury (Hg) were measured in livers of adult thick-billed murres and northern fulmars from several locations in the eastern Canadian Arctic during 2007-2008. Thick-billed murres were collected from five colonies (Coats Island, Digges Island, Akpatok Island, Prince Leopold Island, Minarets) and northern fulmars from two colonies (Prince Leopold Island, Minarets). Legacy organochlorines (e.g. PCBs, DDT, chlorobenzenes, chlordanes) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) dominated the compositional profiles of the measured halogenated compounds in the livers of both species at all colonies. Among the murre colonies sampled, Prince Leopold Island birds generally had the highest mean concentrations of organochlorines. Mean PFOS concentrations were highest in both murre and fulmar livers at Prince Leopold Island. In contrast, the highest mean concentration of total polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) among murre colonies was found at the Minarets and the lowest at Prince Leopold Island. Murres at the two high Arctic colonies of Prince Leopold Island and the Minarets had significantly higher Hg concentrations than at the three low Arctic colonies. Fulmars from Prince Leopold Island had significantly higher Hg levels than those from the Minarets. The reasons for inter-colony and inter-species differences in contaminant liver levels are probably variable and complex, and likely reflect differences in contaminant transport and exposure pathways, as well as differences among colonies in their diets and overwintering areas. To our knowledge, this is the first spatial assessment of PBDEs, PFCAs and PFOS in seabirds from the Canadian Arctic. These data have been published in two two manuscripts, in Environment International 66: 92-96, and in Environmental Research 134: 46-56.

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Metadata Record Information

File Identifier
7eba8f51-235b-466d-8c86-6a5207f2455c XML
Date Stamp
2022-01-06T20:21:47
Metadata language

eng; CAN
Character set
UTF8
Hierarchy Level
Dataset
Author
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada - Environment and Climate Change Canada ( Public inquiries centre )
Fontaine Building 12th floor, 200 Sacré-Coeur Blvd , Gatineau , Quebec , K1A 0H3 , Canada
1-800-668-6767
http://ec.gc.ca
 

Data identification

Date (Publication)
2013-03-21
Date (Creation)
2013-03-21
Status
On going
Metadata language

eng; CAN
Character set
UTF8
Topic category
  • Biota
Maintenance and Update Frequency
As needed
Spatial representation type
Vector
Principal investigator
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada - Braune, Birgit ( Research Scientist )
Carleton University , Ottawa , Ontario , K1S 5B6 , Canada
(613) 998-6694
(613) 998 0458
Distributor
  Government of Canada - Polar Data Catalogue ( Manager )
200 University Ave , Waterloo , Ontario , N2L 3G1 , Canada
(519) 888-4567 x32689

Keywords

Theme

  • Birds

  • Contaminants

  • Spatial data

  • Sea birds

  • Mercury

  • Perfluoro contaminant

  • Persistent organic pollutants

  • Brominated diphenyl ethers

ECCC Information Category EN

  • Nature and Biodiversity - Contaminants

Geography

  • Territories - Nunavut (NU)

Government of Canada Core Subject Thesaurus

  • Toxicology

Business Functions

  • Assess Toxicity, Manage and Monitor for Environmental Presence of Hazardous Substances and Waste

  • Monitor / Assess Substance and Waste Levels in Air, Water, Soil, Biota

external.theme.EC_Branch

  • Science and Technology Branch

external.theme.EC_Directorate

  • Wildlife and Landscape Science

external.theme.GC_Security_Level

  • Unclassified
 
Use Limitation

Open Government Licence - Canada ( http://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada )

Access Constraints
License
Use Constraints
License
Begin Date
2007-07-15
End Date
2010-03-31

Extent

N
S
E
W
thumbnail


 
 

Ref. system Reference Systems

Reference system identifier
http://www.epsg-registry.org / EPSG:4326 /
 

Distribution

Distribution Formats

Distribution format
  • XLS ( XLS )

 
Distributor
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada - Environment and Climate Change Canada ( Public inquiries centre )
Fontaine Building 12th floor, 200 Sacré-Coeur Blvd , Gatineau , Quebec , K1A 0H3 , Canada
1-800-668-6767
http://ec.gc.ca
 
 

Overviews

N
S
E
W
thumbnail


Keywords

Birds Brominated diphenyl ethers Contaminants Mercury Perfluoro contaminant Persistent organic pollutants Sea birds Spatial data
Business Functions
Assess Toxicity, Manage and Monitor for Environmental Presence of Hazardous Substances and Waste Monitor / Assess Substance and Waste Levels in Air, Water, Soil, Biota
ECCC Information Category EN
Nature and Biodiversity - Contaminants
Government of Canada Core Subject Thesaurus
Toxicology
external.theme.EC_Branch
Science and Technology Branch
external.theme.EC_Directorate
Wildlife and Landscape Science
external.theme.GC_Security_Level
Unclassified

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