Hibernation-associated changes in persistent organic pollutant (POP) levels and patterns in British Columbia grizzly bears (ursus arctos horribilis).
We hypothesized that depleted fat reserves in grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) following annual hibernation would reveal increases in persistent organic pollutant (POP) concentrations compared to those present in the fall. We obtained fat and hair from British Columbia grizzly bears in early spring 2004 to compare with those collected in fall 2003, with the two tissue types providing contaminant and dietary information, respectively. By correcting for the individual feeding habits of grizzlies using a stable isotope-based approach, we found that polychlorinated biphenyls (sigmaPCBs) increased by 2.21x, polybrominated diphenylethers (sigmaPBDEs) increased by 1.58x, and chlordanes (sigmaCHL) by 1.49x in fat following hibernation. Interestingly, individual POPs elicited a wide range of hibernation-associated concentration effects (e.g., CB-153, 2.25x vs CB-169, 0.00x), resulting in POP pattern convergence in a PCA model of two distinct fall feeding groups (salmon-eating vs non-salmon-eating) into a single spring (post-hibernation) group. Our results suggest that diet dictates contaminant patterns during a feeding phase, while metabolism drives patterns during a fasting phase. This work suggests a duality of POP-associated health risks to hibernating grizzly bears: (1) increased concentrations of some POPs during hibernation; and (2) a potentially prolonged accumulation of water-soluble, highly reactive POP metabolites, since grizzly bears do not excrete during hibernation.
Christensen
Jennie R
JR
Institute of Ocean Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Sidney, British Columbia V8L 4B2, Canada.
MacDuffee
Misty
M
Yunker
Mark B
MB
Ross
Peter S
PS
D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000737:chemistry; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001955:British Columbia; D002706:Chlordan / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry; D006605:Hibernation / Q000502:physiology*; D007553:Isotope Labeling; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000032:analysis*; D011075:Polybrominated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis; D012621:Seasons; D001503:Ursidae / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D011075:Polybrominated Biphenyls; D002706:Chlordan; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls