title: Spatial and temporal trends in brominated flame retardants in seabirds from the Pacific coast of Canada.
abstract: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) are bioaccumulative flame retardants. PBDEs increased in many ecosystems during the late 20th century, but recently have declined in some environments. To examine trends in the northern Pacific, we analysed PBDEs, HBCDD and carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) to account for dietary effects in archived eggs of three seabird species from British Columbia, Canada, 1990-2011 (rhinoceros auklets, Cerorhinca monocerata; Leach's storm-petrels, Oceanodroma leucorhoa; ancient murrelets, Synthliboramphus antiquus, 2009 only). PBDEs increased until approximately 2000 and then decreased, while HBCDD increased exponentially throughout the examined period. No significant changes in dietary tracers were observed. HBCDD and ΣPBDE levels varied among species; ΣPBDE also varied among sites. Temporal changes in contaminant concentrations are unlikely to have been caused by dietary changes, and likely reflect the build-up followed by decreases associated with voluntary phase-outs and regulations implemented in North America to control PBDEs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Biology, University of British Columbia, 2357 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Aroha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Science and Technology, Environment Canada, Delta, BC, V4K 3N2, Canada. Electronic address: John.Elliott@ec.gc.ca.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada.
authors.forename: Kyle H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada.
authors.forename: Mélanie F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Guigueno
authors.affiliation: Canadian Wildlife Service, Pacific Wildlife Research Centre, Environment Canada, Delta, BC, V4K 3N2, Canada.
authors.forename: Laurie K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Science and Technology, Environment Canada, Delta, BC, V4K 3N2, Canada.
authors.forename: Sandi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Environment Canada, National Wildlife Research Centre, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0H3, Canada.
authors.forename: Abde
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Idrissi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000378:metabolism*; D001955:British Columbia; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000378:metabolism; D006842:Hydrocarbons, Brominated / Q000378:metabolism; D010063:Ovum / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D005411:Flame Retardants; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; D006842:Hydrocarbons, Brominated; C089796:hexabromocyclododecane
keywords: Ancient murrelet; Brominated flame retardants; Leach's storm-petrel; Rhinoceros auklet; Stable isotopes