Body distribution of trace elements in black-tailed gulls from Rishiri Island, Japan: Age-dependent accumulation and transfer to feathers and eggs

• Published in: Environmental toxicology and chemistry Vol. 24; no. 9; pp. 2107 - 2120
• Main Authors: Agusa, Tetsuro, Matsumoto, Taro, Ikemoto, Tokutaka, Anan, Yasumi, Kubota, Reiji, Yasunaga, Genta, Kunito, Takashi, Tanabe, Shinsuke, Ogi, Haruo, Shibata, Yasuyuki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Periodicals, Inc 01-09-2005; SETAC; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Animal behavior; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Aves; Biological and medical sciences; Birds; Body burden; Bone and Bones - metabolism; Cadmium; Charadriiformes; Chromium - analysis; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Eggs; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental Pollutants; Feather; Feathers; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Heavy metal content; Heavy metals; Japan; Kidney - metabolism; Kidneys; Larus crassirostris; Lead; Liver; Liver - metabolism; Male; Manganese; Marine; Maternal transfer; Mercury; Mercury - analysis; Ovum - metabolism; Seabirds; Selenium - analysis; Time Factors; Tissue Distribution; Trace elements; Trace Elements - metabolism; Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution; Asia; Japan; INW, Japan, Hokkaido, Soya Dist., Rishiri I; Japan, Hokkaido, Soya Dist., Rishiri I; Intraspecific relation; Ecotoxicology; Egg; Island; Heavy metal; Trace element; Vertebrata; Mother embryonal transfer; Social interaction; Mother young relation; Seabirds Trace elements Heavy metals Feather Maternal transfer; Feather; Aves; Age
• ISSN: 0730-7268; 1552-8618
• DOI: 10.1897/04-617R.1

Body distribution and maternal transfer of 18 trace elements (V, Cr, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn, Se, Rb, Sr, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sb, Cs, Ba, Hg, Tl, and Pb) to eggs were examined in black‐tailed gulls (Larus crassirostris), which were culled in Rishiri Island, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. Manganese, Cu, Rb, Mo, and Cd showed the highest levels in liver and kidney, Ag, Sb, and Hg in feather, and V, Sr, and Pb in bone. Maternal transfer rates of trace elements ranged from 0.8% (Cd) to as much as 65% (Tl) of maternal body burden. Large amounts of Sr, Ba, and Tl were transferred to the eggs, though maternal transfer rates of V, Cd, Hg, and Pb were substantially low. It also was observed that Rb, Sr, Cd, Cs, and Ba hardly were excreted into feathers. Concentrations of Co in liver, Ba in liver and kidney, and Mo in liver increased significantly with age, whereas Se in bone and kidney, Hg in kidney, and Cr in feather decreased with age in the known‐aged black‐tailed gulls (2–20 years old). It also was suggested that feathers might be useful to estimate contamination status of trace elements in birds, especially for Hg on a population basis, although the utility is limited on an individual basis for the black‐tailed gulls. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the maternal transfer rate of multielements and also on the usefulness of feathers to estimate contamination status of Hg in birds on a population basis.