Age and accumulation of persistent organochlorines: a study of Arctic-breeding glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus)

We studied the relationship between increasing age and blood concentrations of four persistent organochlorines (OCs), hexachlorbenzene (HCB), oxychlordane, p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), and 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorbiphenyl (PCB-153), in arctic-breeding glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus). We measured OC concentrations in 31 individuals of known age and took repeated blood samples of 64 individuals in different years, either one year apart or three or four years apart. The age of individuals was not related to the blood concentrations for any of the four compounds, and in birds whose values were measured repeatedly, there was no effect of the length of time (number of years) between sampling events on the relative change in OC concentration. This indicates that steady-state levels were reached before the age of first breeding. However, breeding area significantly influenced the changes in OC concentration between sampling events. In areas in which birds fed on prey from higher trophic levels, the OC concentrations showed large increases between sampling events; in areas in which birds fed at lower trophic levels, OC concentrations increased relatively little or not at all. This indicates that individual birds had different equilibrium concentrations, which are reached at different ages depending on the intake of OCs through the food. It also indicates that some individuals had not reached steady-state concentrations at the onset of reproduction. Changes in body condition and amount of blood lipids were of lesser importance than trophic level and influenced the concentrations of HCB and oxychlordane more strongly than DDE and PCB-153. In conclusion, this study indicates that steady-state concentrations of persistent OCs are reached early in life in most glaucous gulls, considering the long life span of the species.