Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls at the Kalamazoo River superfund site, Michigan, USA.
In 1990, a portion of the Kalamazoo River in Michigan, USA, was designated a Superfund site because of the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the sediment and floodplain soils. During a four-year period from 2000 to 2003, several avian species were monitored for reproductive effects and concentrations of PCBs in tissues attributed to food chain transfer from contaminated sediments. The tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) was chosen as a model receptor for contamination of passerine species. A top-down methodology was used to evaluate the bioaccumulation of PCBs, including non-ortho and mono-ortho congeners, in tree swallow eggs, nestlings, and adults at the Kalamazoo River area of concern (KRAOC) and at an upstream reference site. Generally, a sixfold difference in tissue concentrations of total PCBs was observed between the two sites with concentrations in eggs and nestlings at the KRAOC ranging from 0.95 to 15 microg PCB/g wet weight. Concentrations of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin equivalents (TEQsWHO Avian) for PCBs, based on bird-specific World Health Organization toxic equivalence factors, were 10- to 30-fold greater in the KRAOC than at the reference location. Egg and nestling TEQsWHO-Avian ranged from 0.21 to 2.4 ng TEQ/g wet weight at the KRAOC. Hazard quotients calculated from literature-derived toxicity reference values were below 1.0 at both the target and the reference site based on the no-observed-adverse-effect level and the lowest-observed-adverse-effect level.
Neigh
Arianne M
AM
Zoology Department, Center for Integrative Toxicology, National Food Safety and Toxicology Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA.
Zwiernik
Matthew J
MJ
Bradley
Patrick W
PW
Kay
Denise P
DP
Park
Cyrus S
CS
Jones
Paul D
PD
Newsted
John L
JL
Blankenship
Alan L
AL
Giesy
John P
JP
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D005260:Female; D020387:Food Chain; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D006256:Hazardous Waste; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010063:Ovum; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D046388:Swallows; D014018:Tissue Distribution
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006256:Hazardous Waste; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls