Bioaccumulation of polonium 210Po in marine birds

Abstract

The aim of this work was to determine the 210Po content in marine birds which permanently or temporally live in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea. We chose 11 species of sea birds: three species permanently residing at southern Baltic Sea, four species of wintering birds and three species of migrating birds. The results show that the polonium is non-uniformly distributed in the marine birds. The highest activities of 210Po were observed in feathers, muscles and liver and the lowest in skin and skeleton. Species of birds that eat crustaceans, molluscs, fish and plants (long-tailed duck Clangula hyemalis, white-winged scoter Melanitta fusca) accumulated more polonium than species that eat mainly fish (great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, common guillemot Uria aalge) or plants (tufted duck Aythya fuligula). Moreover, about 63% of the 210Po that was located in feathers of razorbil ( Alca torda) and long-tailed duck ( C. hyemalis) was apparently adsorbed, suggesting an external source such as the air. It means that the adsorption of 210Po on the feather surface may be an important transfer from air to water.