6 research outputs found
Uptake of waterborne tributyltin in the brain of fish : Axonal transport as a proposed mechanism
Uptake of Waterborne Tributyltin in the Brain of Fish: Axonal Transport as a Proposed Mechanism
Polymeric Brominated Flame Retardants: Are They a Relevant Source of Emerging Brominated Aromatic Compounds in the Environment?
Dechlorane plus and possible degradation products in white stork eggs from Spain
The occurrence of the emerging chlorinated flame retardant Dechlorane Plus (DP) and three of its possible degradation products was investigated in white stork eggs from two colonies in Spain. The average DP concentrations were 401 pg/g wet weight (w.w.) for the urban/industrial colony and 105 pg/g w.w. for the rural colony. One possible degradation product, anti-[DP-1Cl], was found in approximately 10% of the samples. No significant stereoisomer enrichments were detected in any colony based on the average anti-DP fractional abundances found which agrees with previous studies in herring gulls. The relationship between DP and PBDE contents in both colonies was explored leading to different scenarios, i.e. no correlation was found in the urban colony but they were statistically correlated in the rural colony. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report DP in a species from a terrestrial food web, and also to report a DP degradation product in biotaPeer reviewe
Predominance of BDE-209 and other higher brominated diphenyl ethers in eggs of white stork (Ciconia ciconia) colonies from Spain
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are ubiquitous pollutants for which there is still a lack of knowledge about the environmental behavior and fate of the higher brominated congeners (octa- to deca-BDEs). In this study, the PBDE content and congener profiles in failed eggs from two colonies of white stork (Ciconia ciconia) in Spain were studied. The average total PBDE concentration was 1.64 ng/g (wet weight, w.w.) for the rural colony and 9.08 ng/g (w.w.) for the urban colony. Higher brominated BDEs dominated the congener profiles of both colonies. Of particular interest was the determination of BDE-209 as the dominant congener accounting for 44.1% and 38.6% of the total PBDE content in the rural and urban colonies, respectively. BDE-202, considered an indicator of BDE 209 debromination, was detected in 83% and all of the samples from rural and urban colonies, respectively. The observed congener profile in which BDE-207 N BDE-208 N BDE-206 does not correspond to any known technical PBDE mixture and is evidence for possible BDE-209 degradation.Peer reviewe
Mountain Cold-Trapping Increases Transfer of Persistent Organic Pollutants from Atmosphere to Cows’ Milk
Concentrations
of long-lived organic contaminants in snow, soil,
lake water, and vegetation have been observed to increase with altitude
along mountain slopes. Such enrichment, called “mountain cold-trapping”,
is attributed to a transition from the atmospheric gas phase to particles,
rain droplets, snowflakes, and Earth’s surface at the lower
temperatures prevailing at higher elevations. Milk sampled repeatedly
from cows that had grazed at three different altitudes in Switzerland
during one summer was analyzed for a range of persistent organic pollutants.
Mountain cold-trapping significantly increased air-to-milk transfer
factors of most analytes. As a result, the milk of cows grazing at
higher altitudes was more contaminated with substances that have regionally
uniform air concentrations (hexachlorobenzene, α-hexachlorocyclohexane,
endosulfan sulfate). For substances that have sources, and therefore
higher air concentrations, at lower altitudes (polychlorinated biphenyls,
γ-hexachlorocyclohexane), alpine milk has lower concentrations,
but not as low as would be expected without mountain cold-trapping.
Differences in the elevational gradients in soil concentrations and
air-to-milk transfer factors highlight that cold-trapping of POPs
in pastures is mostly due to increased gas-phase deposition as a result
of lower temperatures causing higher uptake capacity of plant foliage,
whereas cold-trapping in soils more strongly depends on wet and dry
particle deposition. Climatic influences on air-to-milk transfer of
POPs needs to be accounted for when using contamination of milk lipids
to infer contamination of the atmosphere