We report on the i
dentity, characterization, an
d spatialtren
ds of several brominate
d flame retar
dants an
dhy
droxylate
d (OH-) an
d methoxylate
d (MeO-) organohalogencontaminants in bal
d eagle (
Haliaeetus leucocephalus)nestling plasma collecte
d from sites along the west coastof North America. Samples were from four southwesternBritish Columbia (BC) locations, a reference site in northernBC (Fort St. James; FSJ), an
d from Santa CatalinaIslan
d, CA (SCI), an area of high DDT an
d PCB contamination.Mean concentrations of
![](/images/gifchars/Sigma.gif)
polybrominate
d diphenyl ether(
![](/images/gifchars/Sigma.gif)
PBDE (8 congeners monitore
d); 1.78-8.49 ng/g),
![](/images/gifchars/Sigma.gif)
OH-polychlorinate
d biphenyl (
![](/images/gifchars/Sigma.gif)
OH-PCB (30 congenersmonitore
d); 0.44-0.87 ng/g), an
d ![](/images/gifchars/Sigma.gif)
OH-PBDE (14 congenersmonitore
d; 0.31-0.92 ng/g) were similar in eaglets fromsouthwestern BC yet lower than for SCI an
d significantlyhigher than for FSJ. Dominant PBDE congeners were BDE47,BDE99, an
d BDE100, but SCI eaglets also containe
d lowlevels of higher brominate
d congeners. 4-OH-CB187 an
d 4'-OH-CB202 accounte
d for 65-100% of
![](/images/gifchars/Sigma.gif)
OH-PCB in all BCeaglets, with 4'-OH-CB202 as well as 3'-OH-CB138 an
d 4-OH-CB146
dominating in SCI eaglets. Ostensibly of biogenicorigin, 6'-OH-BDE49 an
d 6-OH-BDE47 were foun
d inBC nestlings. Only 4'-OH-BDE49 (2.10 ng/g) was foun
d inSCI eaglets. MeO-PBDEs an
d total hexabromocyclo
do
decane(HBCD) were not foun
d in any bir
ds, but the polybrominate
dbiphenyl BB101 was
detecte
d in southwestern BCsamples. This stu
dy
demonstrates that west coast NorthAmerican bal
d eagles contain previously unreporte
dorganohalogens, which have the potential to impact thehealth an
d survival of these raptors.