Eggs laid by white-tailed sea
eagles (
m>Haliaeetus albicillam>), one in 1941 and five eggs between 1996 and 2001, all fro
m the sa
me geographical region of the Baltic Sea, were screened for organohalogen substances. The 1941 egg contained hexachlorobenzene (HCB), but did not contain either of the pesticides hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) or
m>pm>,
m>pm>鈥?DDT, nor any
metabolites of the latter. In contrast, the
more recent eggs (REs) contained all of these co
mpounds. Of the seven polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) analyzed (CB28, 鈭?2, 鈭?01, 鈭?18, 鈭?38/鈭?63, 鈭?53 and 180), only the
more highly chlorinated congeners were detected in the 1941 sa
mple, with CB153 followed by CB180 showing the highest concentrations. All eggs de
monstrated the sa
me congener pattern with respect to the
more highly chlorinated PCBs, but concentrations were approxi
mately 70-230 ti
mes higher in the REs. All of the polychlorinated-
m>pm>-dioxin and dibenzofuran (PCDD/Fs) congeners analyzed were detected in the eggs, with the do
minant congener being 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF (1250 pg/g l.w. in 1941 and 1540 pg/g l.w. (GM) for the REs, respectively). None of the other congeners exceeded 400 pg/g l.w., and the concentrations of 2,3,7,8-TCDD, 2,3,7,8-TCDF and 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDF were all lower in the REs. None of five congeners of polybro
minated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) found in the REs was detected in the egg fro
m 1941. The three
methoxylated bro
minated diphenyl ethers (MeO-BDEs) analyzed were found at si
milar levels and with a si
milar congener pattern in REs as in the egg fro
m 1941.
In conclusion, this study has shown the absence of DDE and PBDE and the presence of HCB and PCBs in a white-tailed sea eagle egg laid in 1941, and a strong increase of PCBs, DDE and PBDE in white-tailed sea eagle eggs from the same area in 1996-2001. The MeO-BDEs were found in similar concentrations in the analyzed eggs. The 1941 sample shows substantial concentrations of PCDD/Fs, noteworthy in the same magnitude as in the recent samples, illustrating the historical and recent exposure of these compounds.