Summary

Description

A background contaminant study was conducted on bat guano and insects in Virginia caves to determine the possibility of exposure of endangered species of bats in Virginia to organochlorine pesticides, organophosphate pesticides, and metals. The three endangered species of bats in Virginia are the gray bat Mvotis arisescens, the Virginia bigeared bat Plecotus townsendii and the Indiana bat Mvotis sodalis. Historic guano samples from a cave in Scott County, Virginia Clinchport quadrangle, cave SP tend to be higher in organochlorine compounds than recent samples from that cave, possibly indicating a source of exposure of these compounds to the bats has been eliminated. The study also provides data which can be used for future comparison in contaminant assessments in Virginia bats.