A geographical comparison of chlorinated, brominated and fluorinated compounds in seabirds breeding in the eastern Canadian Arctic

A suite of chlorinated, brominated and fluorinated organic contaminants were measured in livers of adult thick-billed murres (Uria lomvia) and northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) from several locations in the eastern Canadian Arctic during 2007-2008. Thick-billed murres were collected from five colonies (Coats Island, Digges Island, Akpatok Island, Prince Leopold Island, Minarets) and northern fulmars from two colonies (Prince Leopold Island, Minarets). Legacy organochlorines (e.g. PCBs, DDT, chlorobenzenes, chlordanes) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) dominated the compositional profiles of the measured halogenated compounds in the livers of both species at all colonies. Among the murre colonies sampled, Prince Leopold Island birds generally had the highest mean concentrations of organochlorines, whereas the highest mean concentration of sum (Σ) polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) was found at the Minarets and the lowest at Prince Leopold Island. PBDEs were detected in only a few fulmar livers from the Minarets and in none of the fulmar livers from Prince Leopold Island. Mean PFOS concentrations were highest in both murre and fulmar livers at Prince Leopold Island. PFOS was approximately two orders of magnitude higher than the mean sum (Σ) perfluorinated carboxylate (PFCA) concentration in both species and at all colonies. The reasons for inter-colony and inter-species differences in contaminant liver levels are probably variable and complex, and likely reflect differences in contaminant transport and exposure pathways, as well as differences among colonies in their diets and overwintering areas. To our knowledge, this is the first spatial assessment of PBDEs, PFCAs and PFOS in seabirds from the Canadian Arctic.