Organochlorine residues and reproduction in the little brown bat, Laurel, Maryland - June 1976

Twelve of 43 pregnant little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) collected at Montpelier Barn, Laurel, Maryland, gave birth to dead young. Eleven of these 12 dead neonates were abnormally small. Most of the stillbirths were attributable to unknown reproductive difficulties associated with first pregnancies, but four may have been due to high concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in the newborn. Residues of the PCB, DDE, and oxychlordane crossed the placenta at similar rates.