Organochlorine accumulation by sentinel mallards at the Winston-Thomas sewage treatment plant, Bloomington, Indiana

Farm-raised 12-month-old female mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) were released at the Winston-Thomas sewage treatment plant, Bloomington, Indiana. Five mallards were sacrificed at the start of the study and at approximately 10-day intervals through day 100. Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in carcasses increased linearly with time of exposure and exceeded 16 μg/g wet weight by day 100; PCBs in breast muscle exceeded 3.9 μg/g by day 100. These PCB values are among the highest recorded for wild or sentinel waterfowl. PCB concentrations in breast muscle (26–523 μg/g lipid weight) were 50–1,000 times greater than human consumption guidelines for edible poultry in Canada (0.5 μg/g lipid weight) and 9–176 times greater than consumption guidelines for edible poultry in the United States (3.0 μg/g lipid weight). Additionally, PCB concentrations in carcass and breast muscle exceeded the threshold of the Great Lakes Sport Fish Consumption Advisory ‘do not eat’ category (1.9 μg/g wet weight) by day 20 and day 50, respectively. Hepatic cytochrome P450-associated monooxygenases including BROD (benzyloxyresorufin-O-dealkylase), EROD (ethoxyresorufin-O-dealkylase), and PROD (pentoxyresorufin-O-dealkylase) were induced over 5-fold compared to reference mallards. BROD, EROD, and PROD were each significantly correlated to total PCBs and to the toxicity of selected PCB congeners, relative to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin.