PARENT SESSION

(07-08) Effects of POPs extracted from Baltic guillemots (Uria aalge) on the developing chicken embryo.

de Roode, Daphne^*,1, Gustavsson, Bodil², Rantalainen, Anna-Lea³, Klomp, Anette¹, Bosveld, Bart (A.)⁴, ¹ Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. Box 47, Wageningen, the Netherlands² Institute for Applied Environmental Research and Department of Zoology, Stockholm University (SU), Stockholm, Sweden³ University of Jyväskylä, Department of Chemistry, P.O. Box 35, Jyväskylä, Finland⁴

ABSTRACT- The Baltic Sea is a heavily polluted area. In order to assess the current contaminant pressure on the Baltic common guillemot (Uria aalge), whole body extracts of guillemots from the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean (as a reference site) were prepared and subdivided over six fractions, which differed in composition due to lipophilicity and polarity of the contaminants. The fractions were tested in the chicken embryo assay. Fertilized chicken eggs were injected with 0.01, 0.1 or 1 bird egg equivalent (beq) of the extract fractions and incubated for 19 days. Baltic fractions that contained most of the known lipophilic compounds induced EROD activity up to 15-17 times in embryos exposed to 0.1 beq and 1 beq. In these embryos, morphological alterations were observed in the bursa of Fabricius. The toxic potency of the responsible fractions was confirmed by higher mortality and occurrence of malformations among embryos exposed to these fractions. Similar effects were observed in embryos exposed to corresponding Atlantic fractions, but only at the highest dose applied. Concentrations of PCBs in the Baltic extract were comparable to concentrations that have been reported to increase the incidence of deformities, and decrease hatching success and survival in embryos of wild bird species.

Key words: POPs, Uria aalge, chicken bioassay, Baltic Sea