Endocrine disrupting, haematological and biochemical effects of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in a terrestrial songbird, the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris).
We exposed female European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) during a 6month period to environmentally relevant concentrations of a pentabromodiphenyl ether (Penta-BDE) mixture (about 1740μg/kg body weight) through subcutaneous implants, and examined endocrine disruptive, haematological and biochemical effects. To investigate endocrine disrupting effects of PBDEs, testosterone, estradiol and thyroid hormones (T(3) and T(4)) were measured in the plasma. We found no significant differences between the control and exposed groups for any of the hormones. However, 14days after implantation, T(3) concentrations tended to be lower in the exposed group compared to the control group. For albumin, our results suggest that short term exposure of PBDEs may result in a negative effect on albumin, while the opposite was observed on a longer term (6months after implantation). However, from the statistical analysis, effects on albumin disappeared when excluding females that laid eggs. These results demonstrate that observed effects during the breeding season should be interpreted carefully when the breeding status of females is unknown. There were no significant differences found between the control and exposed groups for the other biochemical parameters (total protein, uric acid, cholesterol, aspartate transaminase, total antioxidative capacity, high-density lipoproteins and creatine kinase) and haematological parameters (amount of red blood cells, haemoglobin concentration, haematocrit, mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular haemoglobin). All together, our results suggest that European starlings, similar to other passerine species, may be less sensitive to the effects of organohalogenated pollutants, such as PBDEs, than other bird species.
Van den Steen
Evi
E
Laboratory of Ethology, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium. evi.vandensteen@ua.ac.be
Eens
Marcel
M
Geens
Ann
A
Covaci
Adrian
A
Darras
Veerle M
VM
Pinxten
Rianne
R
D000418:Albumins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D006403:Hematologic Tests; D008297:Male; D046749:Starlings / Q000502:physiology*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood; D013963:Thyroid Hormones / Q000097:blood; D013974:Thyroxine / Q000097:blood; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000378:metabolism
D000418:Albumins; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; D013963:Thyroid Hormones; D014280:Triglycerides; D013739:Testosterone; D004958:Estradiol; D013974:Thyroxine