title: Brominated flame retardant trends in aquatic birds from the Salish Sea region of the west coast of North America, including a mini-review of recent trends in marine and estuarine birds.
abstract: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) increased in many matrices during the 1990s and early 2000s. Since voluntary restrictions and regulations on PBDEs were implemented in North America circa early 2000s, decreases in PBDEs have occurred in many of these same matrices. To examine temporal trends in the North Pacific, we retrospectively analysed PBDEs and eight non-PBDE flame retardants (FR) in eggs of two aquatic bird species, great blue herons, Ardea herodias, and double-crested cormorants, Phalacrocorax auritus, collected along the British Columbia coast, Canada from 1979 to 2012. Increasing PBDE concentrations were observed in both species followed by significant decreases post-2000 for all dominant congeners and ΣPBDE. Non-PBDE FRs were generally undetected in cormorant eggs, or detected at very low levels in heron eggs, except for hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD). HBCDD, currently unregulated in North America, was not detected in early sampling years; however low concentrations were observed in both species in recent sampling years (2003-2012). Dietary tracers (δ(13)C and δ(15)N) did not change significantly over time, indicating that temporal changes in PBDEs are likely caused by implemented regulations. A comparison with recently published temporal trends of ΣPBDE in marine birds from North America and Europe is given.
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*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000378:metabolism*; D020387:Food Chain; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000378:metabolism; D009656:North America; D009792:Oceans and Seas
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D005411:Flame Retardants; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers
keywords: Double crested cormorant; Ecotoxicology; Great blue heron; Polybrominated diphenyl ethers; Stable isotopes; Temporal trends