posted on 2024-01-02, 14:03authored byJiachen Sun, Adrian Covaci, Jan Ove Bustnes, Veerle L. B. Jaspers, Björn Helander, Bård-Jørgen Bårdsen, David Boertmann, Rune Dietz, Aili Lage Labansen, Ralf Schulz, Govindan Malarvannan, Christian Sonne, Kasper Thorup, Anders P. Tøttrup, Jochen Zubrod, Marcel Eens, Igor Eulaers
Using
archived feathers from Norwegian, Swedish, and Greenlandic
white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla), we investigated
long-term (1866–2015) spatiotemporal trends of polybrominated
diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and their methoxylated analogues (MeO-PBDEs).
Concentrations of BDE 47 (constituting 47–65% of ∑PBDEs)
were significantly increased in feathers from Sweden, while those
of other congeners remained at similar levels between Sweden and Norway.
Among the naturally occurring MeO-PBDEs, 6-MeO-BDE 47 exhibited higher
levels in Sweden while 2′-MeO-BDE 68 concentrations were similar
across regions. Concentrations of BDE 47 and 6-MeO-BDE 47 were not
intercorrelated in Swedish eagles, highlighting the significance of
anthropogenic input and natural origin, respectively, possibly associated
with enhanced primary production in the Baltic region. Such a natural
origin was further supported by the presence of MeO-PBDEs in 35 historical
feathers originally collected from 1866 to 1957. Furthermore, in eagles
from Norway and Sweden, less brominated PBDEs exhibited significantly
increasing trends until the 1990s that declined considerably thereafter,
whereas no apparent decrease was observed for BDE 153 or 154. By comparison,
all PBDE congeners showed nonlinear but insignificant changes in Greenland.
Additionally, the Swedish eagles showed significantly increased levels
of ∑MeO-PBDEs, primarily driven by 6-MeO-BDE 47. Our findings
indicate that further evaluation of the sources and impacts of more
highly brominated PBDEs and MeO-PBDEs is warranted.