Plastic additives and legacy persistent organic pollutants in the preen gland oil of seabirds sampled across the globe

Rei YAMASHITA; Nagako HIKI; Fumika KASHIWADA; Hideshige TAKADA; Kaoruko MIZUKAWA; Britta Denise HARDESTY; Lauren ROMAN; David HYRENBACH; Peter G. RYAN; Ben J. DILLEY; Juan Pablo MUÑOZ-PÉREZ; Carlos A. VALLE; Christopher K. PHAM; João FRIAS; Bungo NISHIZAWA; Akinori TAKAHASHI; Jean-Baptiste THIEBOT; Alexis WILL; Nobuo KOKUBUN; Yuuki Y. WATANABE; Takashi YAMAMOTO; Kozue SHIOMI; Ui SHIMABUKURO; Yutaka WATANUKI

doi:10.5985/emcr.20210009

Articles

Plastic additives and legacy persistent organic pollutants in the preen gland oil of seabirds sampled across the globe

Rei YAMASHITA, Nagako HIKI, Fumika KASHIWADA, Hideshige TAKADA , Kaoruko MIZUKAWA, Britta Denise HARDESTY, Lauren ROMAN, David HYRENBACH, Peter G. RYAN, Ben J. DILLEY, Juan Pablo MUÑOZ-PÉREZ, Carlos A. VALLE, Christopher K. PHAM, João FRIAS, Bungo NISHIZAWA, Akinori TAKAHASHI, Jean-Baptiste THIEBOT, Alexis WILL, Nobuo KOKUBUN, Yuuki Y. WATANABE, Takashi YAMAMOTO, Kozue SHIOMI, Ui SHIMABUKURO, Yutaka WATANUKI

Author information

Rei YAMASHITA
Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology [Japan]
Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo [Japan]
Nagako HIKI
Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology [Japan]
Fumika KASHIWADA
Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology [Japan]
Hideshige TAKADA Corresponding author
Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology [Japan]
Kaoruko MIZUKAWA
Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology [Japan]
Britta Denise HARDESTY
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere [Australia]
Centre for Marine Sociology, University of Tasmania [Australia]
Lauren ROMAN
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere [Australia]
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania [Australia]
David HYRENBACH
Marine Science Programs at Oceanic Institute, Hawaii Pacific University [United States]
Peter G. RYAN
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town [South Africa]
Ben J. DILLEY
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town [South Africa]
Juan Pablo MUÑOZ-PÉREZ
Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales COCIBA and Galápagos Science Center GSC, Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ [Ecuador]
Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast [Australia]
Carlos A. VALLE
Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales COCIBA and Galápagos Science Center GSC, Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ [Ecuador]
Christopher K. PHAM
OKEANOS R&D Centre, University of the Azores [Portugal]
João FRIAS
Marine and Freshwater Research Centre (MFRC), Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) [Ireland]
Bungo NISHIZAWA
National Institute of Polar Research [Japan]
Akinori TAKAHASHI
National Institute of Polar Research [Japan]
Jean-Baptiste THIEBOT
National Institute of Polar Research [Japan]
Alexis WILL
Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks [United States]
Nobuo KOKUBUN
National Institute of Polar Research [Japan]
Yuuki Y. WATANABE
National Institute of Polar Research [Japan]
Takashi YAMAMOTO
Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University [Japan]
Meiji Institute for Advanced Study of Mathematical Sciences, Organization for the Strategic Coordination of Research and Intellectual Properties, Meiji University [Japan]
Kozue SHIOMI
National Institute of Polar Research [Japan]
Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University [Japan]
Ui SHIMABUKURO
Department of Polar Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI [Japan]
Yutaka WATANUKI
Faculty of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University [Japan]

Keywords: preen gland oil, seabirds, plastic ingestion, plastic additives, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), brominated flame retardants, benzotriazole UV stabilizers, marine plastic pollution, plastic debris

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Supplementary material

2021 Volume 1 Pages 97-112

DOI https://doi.org/10.5985/emcr.20210009

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Abstract

Plastic pollution, and its associated impacts on marine fauna due to chemical contamination, is an area of growing global concern. We analyzed 145 preen gland oil samples from 32 seabird species belonging to 8 families with different foraging habits and life history strategies from around the world for plastic additives and legacy persistent organic pollutants. The additives included two brominated flame retardants (decabromodiphenyl ether, BDE209; decabromo diphenyl ethane, DBDPE) and six benzotriazole UV stabilizers (BUVSs; UVP, UV326, UV329, UV328, UV327, and UV234). Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and its metabolites: DDTs and hexachlorocyclohexane: HCHs) were detected ubiquitously. High concentrations of PCBs (up to 20,000 ng/g-lipid) were observed in the seabirds from higher-trophic level taxa. These patterns can be attributed to PCB exposure via their diet and associated biomagnification. DDT concentrations showed strong positive correlations with PCB concentrations, suggesting that DDTs in seabirds are also a result of diet and biomagnification. Plastic additives were detected sporadically as BDE209 and DBDPE were detected in 16 seabirds from 10 species (range: 3–379 ng/g-lipid) and BUVSs were detected in 46% (67) of the examined individuals (range: 2–7,055 ng/g-lipid). UV stabilizers were more frequently detected than flame retardants because UV stabilizers are more widely applied to plastic products. None of the plastic additives were correlated to the presence of PCBs, nor were they explained by the foraging area or trophic level. High concentrations of additives were detected in the species with high levels of plastic in their digestive tracts. In some of these species, such as Hawaiian petrels (Pterodroma sandwichensis) from Hawaii and flesh-footed shearwaters (Ardenna carneipes) from Western Australia, plastics were directly observed in the stomach. For other species, including great shearwaters (Ardenna gravis) from Gough Island, blue petrels (Halobaena caerulea) from Marion Island, and black-footed and Laysan albatrosses (Phoebastria nigripes and P. immutabilis) from Hawaii, plastic ingestion has been documented in literature. These patterns can be explained if the additives are mainly from ingested plastics rather than diet. The detection of BFRs and BUVSs demonstrated that a significant proportion of the examined seabirds accumulated chemicals from ingested plastics.

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