Contaminant assessment of coastal bald eagles at Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge and Acadia National Park
Published By US Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior
Issued about 9 years ago
US
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Summary
Description
Environmental contaminants including organochlorine compounds e.g., polychlorinated biphenyls PCBs, dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene DDE, polybrominated diphenyl ether PBDE, and mercury were measured in 16 nonviable or abandoned bald eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus eggs and 65 nestling blood samples collected between 2000 and 2012 from the Maine coast. The study objectives were to compare current contaminant levels in eggs and blood to suggested toxicity threshold levels reported in the scientific literature and to two previous Maine bald eagle investigations conducted in the 1990s.