"Elevated Exposures of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-Dioxins, Dibenzofurans and Dioxin-like Polychlorinated BiphenylS in Livers of Birds from Japan" 

Kurunthachalam Senthil Kumar¹, Naomasa Iseki¹, Shigeki Masunaga¹, Shinichi Hayama², Junko Nakanishi³

¹Yokohama National University
²Nippon Veterinary and Animal Science University
³National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

the 10th Environmental Chemistry (Matsuyama, Japan 2001/5/23)

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Abstract

Since the late l940s and the early 1950s, there are a series of avian population co11apses. The species that showed signs of declining population was double-crested cormorant, bald eagle, some tern species, heron species and gu11 species in the Great Lakes, USA and Canada (Postupalsky, 1978) with reproductive and anatomical abnormalities. 

High correlation has been observed with deformity/anatomical ma1formations and egg concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs); polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and dioxin-1ike polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (for review see Gilbertson et al. 1991 ; Yamashita et al. 1993). 

A few studies have reported the occurrence of dioxin-1ike PCBs and PCDD/DFs in birds in Japan (Guruge and Tanabe, 1997; Guruge et al. 2000; Iseki et al. 2000). These studies have suggested greater exposures of PCDDs/DFs and dioxin-1ike PCBs. Because persistent environmental contaminants are biomagnified in species belongs to top of the food chain. 

Considering these facts, in the present study, we determined congener-specific accumulation of PCDDs, PCDFs and dioxin.like PCBs in fTotlr grOuPS Of birds belonging to different habitat and ecology. Toxic equivalencies (TEQs) awere estimated using WHO-toxic equivalency factors (TEF) proposed in 1998.

Keywords

Dioxins, Liver, Birds