Waste-water treatment plants are implicated as an important source of flame retardants in insectivorous tree swallows (Tachicyneta bicolor).

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are an important source of anthropogenic chemicals, including organic flame retardants (FRs). Limited studies indicate birds can be exposed to FRs by feeding from waters receiving WWTP effluent or in fields receiving biosolids. Expanding on our earlier study, 47 legacy and 18 new FR contaminants were characterized in the eggs of insectivorous tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) feeding in water bodies receiving effluent from two WWTPs and compared to those from a reference site 19 km downstream of the nearest WWTP.

Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina) from Canadian Areas of Concern across the southern Laurentian Great Lakes: Chlorinated and brominated hydrocarbon contaminants and metabolites in relation to circulating concentrations of thyroxine and vitamin A.

The metabolites of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), as well as other halogenated phenolic contaminants (HPCs) have been shown to have endocrine-disrupting properties, and have been reported with increasing frequency in the blood of wildlife, and mainly in mammals and birds. However, little is known about the persistence, accumulation and distribution of these contaminants in long-lived freshwater reptiles. In the present study, in addition to a large suite of chlorinated and brominated contaminants, metabolites and HPCs, we assessed and compared hydroxylated (OH) PCBs and OH-PBDEs relative to PCBs and PBDEs, respectively, in the plasma of adult male common snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina).

Exposure to the androgenic brominated flame retardant 1,2-dibromo-4-(1,2-dibromoethyl)-cyclohexane alters reproductive and aggressive behaviors in birds.

Detected in environmental samples, 1,2-dibromo-4-(1,2-dibromoethyl) cyclohexane (DBE-DBCH) is a bioaccumulative isomer of a current-use brominated flame retardant. All 4 structural isomers are androgen agonists; however, little toxicological information exists for this compound. The objective of the present study was to determine if β-DBE-DBCH, the isomer found most prominently in animal tissue, affects androgen-dependent behavior of breeding American kestrels (Falco sparverius).

Investigating endocrine and physiological parameters of captive American kestrels exposed by diet to selected organophosphate flame retardants.

Organophosphate triesters are high production volume additive flame retardants (OPFRs) and plasticizers. Shown to accumulate in abiotic and biotic environmental compartments, little is known about the risks they pose. Captive adult male American kestrels (Falco sparverius) were fed the same dose (22 ng OPFR/g kestrel/d) daily (21 d) of tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBOEP), tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), tris(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP), or tris(1,2-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP).

Avian wildlife as sentinels of ecosystem health.

Birds have been widely used as sentinels of ecosystem health reflecting changes in habitat quality, increased incidence of disease, and exposure to and effects of chemical contaminants. Numerous studies addressing these issues focus on the breeding period, since hormonal, behavioural, reproductive, and developmental aspects of the health can be observed over a relatively short time-span. Many body systems within individuals are tightly integrated and interdependent, and can be affected by contaminant chemicals, disease, and habitat changes in complex ways.

Bioaccumulation and biotransformation of 61 polychlorinated biphenyl and four polybrominated diphenyl ether congeners in juvenile American kestrels (Falco sparverius).

This study examined the bioaccumulation and dietary retention of 61 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and four polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners in juvenile American kestrels (Falco sparverius). American kestrels were exposed to contaminants via egg injection and daily gavage dosing over the posthatch-to-fledgling period. Retention factors for PCBs were dependent on chemical hydrophobicity and chlorine substitution patterns and ranged from less than 1 to 16.

Effects of environmentally relevant concentrations of atrazine on gonadal development of snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina).

The herbicide atrazine has been suspected of affecting sexual development by inducing aromatase, resulting in the increased conversion of androgens to estrogens. We used snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina), a species in which sex is dependent on the production of estrogen through aromatase activity in a temperature-dependent manner, to investigate if environmentally relevant exposures to atrazine affected gonadal development. Eggs were incubated in soil to which atrazine was applied at a typical field application rate (3.

Characterization of contaminants in snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) from Canadian Lake Erie Areas of Concern: St. Clair River, Detroit River, and Wheatley Harbour.

PCBs, organochlorine pesticides and dioxins/furans in snapping turtle eggs and plasma (Chelydra serpentina) were evaluated at three Areas of Concern (AOCs) on Lake Erie and its connecting channels (St. Clair River, Detroit River, and Wheatley Harbour), as well as two inland reference sites (Algonquin Provincial Park and Tiny Marsh) in 2001-2002. Eggs from the Detroit River and Wheatley Harbour AOCs had the highest levels of p,p'-DDE (24.