Contaminants
New Osprey Contaminant Report
Contaminant screening in Casco Bay, Maine Osprey: A new report by BioDiversity Research Institute. Click here to read full report.
2010 OSPREY REPORT PRIMARY FINDINGS
- PCBs, PBDEs, PFCs, and OCs were detected in all osprey samples.
- Deca-BDE was found in ten out of 12 eggs in Casco Bay, indicating that deca is bioaccumulating in wildlife.
- PFOS level on Flag Island had the highest level detected in Maine wildlife—75% of the eggs had PFOS levels above effects thresholds established for chickens.
- Levels of PBDEs and PFCs tended to be higher in Casco Bay than mid-coast Maine.
- The osprey samples did not show a specific spatial pattern, suggesting that within the marine ecosystem, contaminant levels may be dictated by point sources, watershed characteristics, and/or food web dynamics.
Like the 2007 and 2008 results, PCB, PBDE, PFC, and OC levels are positively correlated, indicating that birds with high levels of one compound tend to have higher levels of the others. PBDEs and PCBs have one of the strongest relationships.
2008 REPORT PRIMARY FINDINGS
- Banned and new harmful contaminants were found in all Maine bird eggs tested.
- Industrial stain and water repellants (PFCs) were found for the first time in Maine birds.
- Contaminants were found above adverse effects levels.
- Contaminants were found in birds living on the ocean, salt marshes, rivers, lakes, and uplands.
- Birds found in southern coastal Maine tended to have the highest contaminant levels.
- Eagles had the highest contaminant levels.
- Birds with high levels of one contaminant had high levels of other contaminants.
- The flame retardant deca was found in eight species.
- Overall, banned contaminants are lower today than in the past.
CONTAMINANTS MEASURED
- Mercury: neurological, reproductive
- Banned transformer coolants (PCBs): immunological, reproductive, organ function
- Flame retardants (PBDEs): developmental, endocrinal, organ function
- Industrial stain and water repellants (PFCs): developmental, reproductive
- Banned pesticides (OCs): egg-shell thinning, reproductive
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Species Studied |
| American kestrel Arctic tern Atlantic puffin Bald eagle Belted kingfisher Black guillemot Common eider Common loon Common tern Double-crested cormorant Great black-backed gull Glossy ibis Herring gull Least tern Leach’s storm-petrel Osprey Peregrine falcon Piping plover Red-winged blackbird Snowy egret Tree swallow Virginia rail Willet |