Organohalogen contaminants in common loons (Gavia immer) breeding in Western Alberta, Canada

Abstract

We examined the influence of biological and geographical factors on the levels and patterns of organohalogen contaminants in blood of adult common loons (Gavia immer) collected from 20 lakes in Alberta, Canada. The loons were captured in the 2006 and 2007 breeding seasons over a 900 m elevation gradient across the eastern slope of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. While PCBs dominated the composition of these contaminants in loons at all sites (∑PCBs > p,p’-DDE > ∑PBDEs > ∑Chlordanes > HCB), p,p’-DDE and ∑PBDEs were also important, averaging approximately 50% and 20% of total PCB concentrations, respectively. ∑PCBs and ∑PBDEs were higher in males than in females. Inter-lake variation was apparent for contaminant concentrations and patterns and were largely explained by dietary signatures (δ15N and δ13C) and proximity to a large hydroelectric dam. Mean ∑PCB (19.6 ng/g wet weight (ww)) and organochlorine pesticide (OCP) (p,p’-DDE: 11.8 ng/g, cis-nonachlor: 0.10 ng/g, trans-nonachlor: 0.32 ng/g, HCB: 0.34 ng/g ww) concentrations in loons were approximately 4- to 17-fold lower than average concentrations reported in common loons from Atlantic Canada and were well below concentrations which have been associated with impaired reproductive success and eggshell thinning in other piscivorous birds. Dominant PBDE congeners were BDE47, BDE99, and BDE100. The regional mean for ∑PBDEs (4.04 ng/g ww) in loons from the present study was within the range reported for ∑PBDEs in nestling bald eagle plasma from British Columbia. This is the first report of PBDEs in loons and the first report of PCBs and OCPs in common loons from Western North America.