Assessment of persistent organic pollutant concentrations in juveniles of the near threatened Greater rhea in central Argentina

LECHE, A.; GISMONDI E.; MARTELLA M.B.; NAVARRO J.L.

Congreso; 28 IOC; 2022

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are a global threat, and their occurrence in wildlife hasreceived considerable attention over the last decades. Among the matrices used for POPsdetermination, feathers are particularly useful as they can be easily collected in a minimallyinvasive or non-invasive manner. The Greater rhea (Rhea americana) is a ratite endemic ofSouth America whose wild populations have drastically declined mainly due to agriculturalintensification. In a recent study, we showed that adults of this species living in an intensivecrop production area are exposed to high levels of POPs. Here we evaluate the occurrence ofPOPs in juvenile Greater rheas inhabiting an agroecosystem in central Argentina.Concentrations of seven polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs: 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153 and 180),eight organochlorine pesticides (OCPs: α-HCH, β-HCH, γ-HCH, p,p'-DDE, p,p'-DDD, o,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDT, and HCB), and two polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs: 47 and 99) werequantified in wing feathers of 20 five-month-old birds. PCBs showed the highest concentrationsamong the investigated contaminants(73.86 ng g-1), followed by OCPs (7.91 ng g-1). No PBDEswere detected. The total concentrations of POPs found in juvenile rhea feathers (81.83 ng g-1)were as high as those quantified in adults of the same population in our previous study (97.53ng g-1). This result may reflect the burden of contaminants incorporated from the egg duringthe breeding season. The potential effect of this early life POP exposure on the health of rheasshould be further elucidated in future studies