Pelagic seabirds as biomonitors of persistent organic pollutants in the Southwestern Atlantic

QUADRI ADROGUÉ, AGUSTINA; MIGLIORANZA, KARINA S.B.; COPELLO, SOFÍA; FAVERO, MARCO; SECO PON, JUAN P.

MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Año: 2019 vol. 149

0025-326X

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are accumulated through time and can exert different effect on ecosystems. POPs and Chlorpyrifos, a current use pesticide, were assessed in body feathers of males and females of Blackbrowed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris, BBA) and Cape petrels (Daption capense, CAP) during their nonbreeding seasons at the Patagonian Shelf, Argentina. Chlorpyrifos showed the highest values among all pollutants in both species (49.56?84.88 ng g−1), resulting from current agricultural practices. The pattern OCPs>PCBs>PBDEs was observed in both species, and CAP showed higher concentrations than BBA probably as a consequence of higher lipid mobilization and pollutants availability during dispersion. Non-significantdifferences between sexes about POPs levels were found; however a slight tendency was observed, females>males in CAP, and males>females in BBA. More attention and further studies are needed to understand seabirds´physiology and its relationship with the pollutants distribution in their tissues and considering breeding season.