Jenssen B M, Nilssen V H, Murvoll K M, Skaare J U
Department of Zoology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim.
Chemosphere. 2001 Jul;44(3):483-9. doi: 10.1016/s0045-6535(00)00284-8.
Fish-eating birds are particularly subject to accumulation of persistent organic pollutants, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been shown to constitute a major hazard for this group of birds. Grey heron (Ardea cinerea) hatchlings from two rookeries were applied as sentinel species to study PCB burdens in coastal ecosystems in mid Norway and north Norway, and plasma retinol and dioxin-equivalencies (sigmaTEQ) were applied to assess toxic effects of the PCB-burdens. The results show that grey herons appear to be amongst the fish-eating birds in Norway that are accumulating PCBs to the largest extent. There were no differences in sigmaPCB or sigmaTEQ in the yolk of grey heron hatchlings from the two rookeries and, accordingly, none in plasma retinol concentrations either. Furthermore, plasma retinol concentrations could not be related to sigmaPCB or sigmaTEQ. Thus, it seems that exposure levels are below the threshold for gross retinoid-related effects in grey heron hatchlings. There are also indications that the grey heron could be relatively insensitive to retinoid-related effects of PCBs. In the hatchlings with the highest pollutant levels, sigmaTEQs were in the lower range of levels that have been associated with reduced hatching success in other fish-eating bird species.
食鱼鸟类特别容易积累持久性有机污染物，并且多氯联苯（PCBs）已被证明对这类鸟类构成重大危害。来自两个繁殖地的苍鹭（灰鹭，Ardea cinerea）雏鸟被用作指示物种，以研究挪威中部和北部沿海生态系统中的多氯联苯负荷，并使用血浆视黄醇和二恶英当量（sigmaTEQ）来评估多氯联苯负荷的毒性作用。结果表明，苍鹭似乎是挪威食鱼鸟类中多氯联苯积累程度最高的鸟类之一。来自两个繁殖地的苍鹭雏鸟卵黄中的sigmaPCB或sigmaTEQ没有差异，因此血浆视黄醇浓度也没有差异。此外，血浆视黄醇浓度与sigmaPCB或sigmaTEQ无关。因此，似乎暴露水平低于苍鹭雏鸟中与类视黄醇相关的总体效应阈值。也有迹象表明，苍鹭可能对多氯联苯的类视黄醇相关效应相对不敏感。在污染物水平最高的雏鸟中，sigmaTEQs处于与其他食鱼鸟类孵化成功率降低相关的较低水平范围内。
