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Organochlorines, mercury, and selenium in great blue heron eggs from Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana

Custer, T. W., Hines, R. K., Stewart, P. M., Melancon, M. J., Hensel, D. S., and Sparks, D. W., 1998, Organochlorines, mercury, and selenium in great blue heron eggs from Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana: Journal of Great Lakes Research, v. 24, no. 1, p. 3-11.

Abstract

In 1993, 20 great blue heron (Ardea herodias; GBH) eggs (one per nest) were collected from a colony at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana (INDU). The eggs were artificially incubated until pipping and were then analyzed for organochlorines, mercury, and selenium. Livers of embryos were analyzed for hepatic microsomal ethoxyresorufin-O-dealkylase (EROD) activity. Brains were measured for asymmetry. Egg-laying began in early April and the mean clutch size was 4.2 eggs per clutch. Organochlorine concentrations were generally low (geometric mean p,p'-DDE = 1.6 mu g/g wet weight, polychlorinated biphenyl [PCB] = 4.9 mu g/g), however, one egg had elevated concentrations of p,p'-DDE (13 mu g/g) and PCBs (56 mu g/g). EROD activity in the embryos analyzed from INDU was not elevated. The frequency (11%) of brain asymmetry was low. Eggshells averaged 3.4% thinner than eggshells collected prior to the use of DDT. Mercury (geometric mean = 0.9 mu g/g dry weight) concentrations in GBH eggs were within background levels. Selenium (4.0 mu g/g dry weight) concentrations in eggs were above background levels, but below a concentration threshold associated with reproductive impairment.

Keywords: Bioaccumulation, Pollution effects, Chlorinated hydrocarbons, Mercury compounds, Selenium, Aquatic birds, PCB, Bird eggs, eggs, USA, Indiana, organochlorine compounds, mercury, USA, Indiana, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Lake Shores, embryonic growth stage, water birds, incubation, DDT, wildlife, liver, embryos, Ardea herodias, Great blue heron