Assessment of Southwestern Atlantic pollution: POPs and Chlorpyrifos in seabirds from the south east of Argentine.

QUADRI ADROGUE AGUSTINA; SECO PON JUAN PABLO; GARCÍA GERMAN OSCAR; CASTANO MELINA; COPELLO SOFIA; FAVERO MARCO; MIGLIORANZA KARINA SB

Encuentro; SETAC Europe 29th Annual Meeting; 2019

SETAC Europe

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), such as Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are anthropogenic chemicals used for industrial and agricultural purpose; they were banned years ago and are regulated under the Stockholm Convention. POPs occurrence in the environment is of great concern due to their effects on organisms. Birds feathers constitute a useful non-destructive tool for POPs detection. There is scarce information about levels of these compounds in birds from the southern hemisphere. The aim of this work was to determine levels of POPs and chlorpyrifos in feathers of three seabirds wintering in Southwestern Atlantic, Olrog's gull (Larus atlanticus), Blackbrowed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) and Cape petrel (Daption capense) and the relationship with sex and spatial distribution. POPs and chlorpyrifos were quantified by gas chromatography with electron capture detector (GC-ECD). All species showed a predominance of chlorpyrifos followed by OCPs, PCBs and PBDEs. This denotes the importance of agricultural activity in the region. Particularly, the Olrog gull presented the greatest contaminant levels (=180,97ng/g), according to its distribution, being related to coastal areas, mainly associated to marshes. Regarding to sex differences on pollutants load, only females of Olrog gull showed lower levels than males (=100,27; 288,56ng/g respectively), probably because of maternal transfer. Differences were also detected among pelagic species. Pollutants levels were higher in Cape petrel (=151,63ng/g) than in Black-browed albatross (=80,47ng/g) possibly as a consequence of higher lipid mobilization during migration. In all species, HCHs dominated OCPs composition, followed by endosulfans (α-/β->1). Among PCBs, tri-, tetra- and penta- CB were the most abundant congeners in feathers of Olrog gull and Black-browed albatross, while CB 156, CB 180 and CB 183 were the predominant PCBs in Cape petrel. The same PBDEs pattern was observed in both pelagic species, being BDE-47 and BDE-99 the predominant congeners followed by BDE-100; however, BDE-100 was the only PBDE detected in feathers of the Olrog gull. These results are similar to worldwide trends found in birds feathers. Therefore, the organic pollutants occurrence in birds from the southern hemisphere deserves more attention and long-term monitoring programs are suggested to reduce their incorporation to aquatic ecosystem.