Becker P H, Henning D, Furness R W
Institut für Vogelforschung, Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 1994 Aug;27(2):162-7. doi: 10.1007/BF00214258.
Eggs, feathers (down, body feathers from side/shoulder and back) and some dead chicks (liver) from broods of three species, herring full (Larus argentatus), black-headed gull (Larus ridibundus), and common tern (Sterna hirundo) from the German North Sea coast were collected to study intersibling differences in mercury contamination and elimination into the growing feathers. The mercury contamination in eggs, feathers, and liver of the terns was about four times that of the gulls; black-headed gulls had lowest mercury concentrations. The body feathers grow when the chicks became older had lower mercury levels than down in the more contaminated species (11% lower in herring gulls, 49% in common terns), indicating the advancing decontamination of the body by the plumage development. The elimination of mercury was greater in chicks with higher mercury levels. Down of the first hatched herring gull and common tern chick contained more mercury than down of the siblings hatched later, because of its higher burden derived from the first laid egg.
从德国北海沿岸的鲱鸥（Larus argentatus）、黑头鸥（Larus ridibundus）和普通燕鸥（Sterna hirundo）这三个物种的巢中收集了鸟蛋、羽毛（绒毛、身体侧面/肩部和背部的体羽）以及一些死雏鸟（肝脏），以研究同窝雏鸟之间汞污染以及汞在生长羽毛中的消除差异。燕鸥的鸟蛋、羽毛和肝脏中的汞污染量约为鸥类的四倍；黑头鸥的汞浓度最低。在污染更严重的物种中，雏鸟长大后生长的体羽汞含量低于绒毛（鲱鸥低11%，普通燕鸥低49%），这表明随着羽毛发育，身体的去污作用在增强。汞含量较高的雏鸟体内汞的消除量更大。由于第一枚产下的蛋带来的汞负荷较高，最先孵化出的鲱鸥和普通燕鸥雏鸟的绒毛比后孵化出的同窝雏鸟的绒毛含有更多的汞。
