NISTIR 7562 SEABIRD TISSUE ARCHIVAL AND MONITORING PROJECT: Egg Collections and Analytical Results for 2002-2005 Stacy S. Vander Pol1 Paul R. Becker1 Rusty D. Day1 Michael B. Ellisor1 Aurore Guichard1 Amanda J. Moors1 David Point1 Rebecca S. Pugh1 David G. Roseneau2 1U.S. Department of Commerce 2U.S. Department of the Interior National Institute of Standards and Technology U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Analytical Chemsitry Division Homer, AK 99603 Hollings Marine Laboratory Charleston, SC 29412 NISTIR 7562 SEABIRD TISSUE ARCHIVAL AND MONITORING PROJECT: Egg Collections and Analytical Results for 2002-2005 Stacy S. Vander Pol1 Paul R. Becker1 Rusty D. Day1 Michael B. Ellisor1 Aurore Guichard1 Amanda J. Moors1 David Point1 Rebecca S. Pugh1 David G. Roseneau2 1U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology Hollings Marine Laboratory Charleston, SC 29412 2U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Homer, AK 99603 February 2009 Erratum: Glaucous gull eggs were not collected from the Penny River delta, but rather at a colony approximately 24 km to the west-northwest in the Sinuk River delta. This correction does not affect the findings of the report. Table of Contents List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. iii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ iii List of Appendices ......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... vii Disclaimer ..................................................................................................................................... vii Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................... viii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ix INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 METHODS ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Study Area and Sampling Sites ................................................................................................... 5 Collecting Protocols and Egg Collecting Kits ............................................................................ 9 Sample Processing and Banking ............................................................................................... 10 Analysis for Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) ................................................................... 10 Analysis for Mercury (total, inorganic, and organic mercury) ................................................. 13 Analysis for Organotin Compounds ......................................................................................... 14 Statistical Methods .................................................................................................................... 14 RESULTS ..................................................................................................................................... 15 Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)........................................................................................ 15 Mercury (including organomercury) ......................................................................................... 29 Organotin Compounds .............................................................................................................. 32 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................... 35 Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)........................................................................................ 35 Mercury (including organomercury) ......................................................................................... 41 Organotin Compounds .............................................................................................................. 46 CONCLUSIONS........................................................................................................................... 47 RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................................................................. 48 LITERATURE CITED ................................................................................................................. 50 ii List of Tables Table 1. The 1999-2005 Seabird Tissue Archival and Monitoring Project (STAMP) seabird egg collection sites ................................................................................................................................. 7 Table 2. Egg clutches banked by the Seabird Tissue Archival and Monitoring Project (STAMP) 8 Table 3. Mass fractions of POPs in glaucous gull and glaucous-winged gull eggs ...................... 27 Table 4. Mass fractions of MBT, DBT, TBT and ∑BT in common and thick-billed murre eggs and glaucous and glaucous-winged gull eggs collected in the Bering and Chukchi seas and Gulf of Alaska during 1999-2005, and brown pelican eggs obtained in the Charleston, South Carolina vicinity in 2005 ............................................................................................................................. 33 Table 5. Mass fractions of selected organic contaminants in Alaskan common murre eggs compared to values reported from Stora Karlsö in the Baltic Sea ................................................ 39 Table 6. Mass fractions of total mercury in common and thick-bill murre eggs from Alaska, California, Norway, and Russia. ................................................................................................... 42 List of Figures Figure 1. The 1999-2005 Seabird Tissue Archival and Monitoring Project (STAMP) seabird egg collection sites ................................................................................................................................. 6 Figure 2. Murre and gull sampling sites compared during this study. ............................................ 9 Figure 3. Percent lipid in common murre eggs collected at 10 Alaskan colonies ........................ 16 Figure 4. Mass fractions of POPs in Gulf of Alaska common murre eggs collected in 2003 and 2004............................................................................................................................................... 17 Figure 5. Mass fractions of POPs in Bering Sea common murre eggs collected in 2005 ............ 18 Figure 6. Mass fractions of POPs in thick-billed murre eggs collected in 2002 .......................... 19 Figure 7. Mass fractions of POPs in common murre eggs collected over several years at St. Lazaria, East Amatuli, and Bogoslof islands ................................................................................ 21 Figure 8. Principal components analysis for common murre eggs. .............................................. 22 Figure 9. Mass fractions of POPs in the Bogoslof Island common murre eggs collected in 2005 with and without outlier Egg ID 863 ............................................................................................ 23 Figure 10. Principal components analysis for thick-billed and common murre eggs ................... 24 Figure 11. Mass fractions of POPs in glaucous gull and glaucous-winged gull eggs collected in 2005............................................................................................................................................... 26 Figure 12. Principal components analysis for glaucous gull and glaucous-winged gull eggs ...... 28 Figure 13. Percentages of methylmercury contributing to total mercury in murre and gull eggs 29 Figure 14. Mass fractions of mercury in individual murre and gull eggs ..................................... 30 Figure 15. Mass fractions of mercury in murre and gull eggs by species and geographic location. ....................................................................................................................................................... 31 iii Figure 16. Mass fractions of mercury in common murre eggs collected in 2005 from coastal mainland colonies in Norton Sound compared with other mainland and coastal colonies in the Bering and Chukchi seas ............................................................................................................... 31 Figure 17. Mass fractions of MBT, DBT, TBT and ∑BT in murre and gull eggs from colonies in the Bering and Chukchi seas and Gulf of Alaska ......................................................................... 34 Figure 18. BuSn mass fractions in Gulf of Alaska common and thick-billed murre eggs ........... 34 Figure 19. Mass fractions of POPs in common murre eggs collected at Alaskan colonies during 2003-2005 and the 1970s .............................................................................................................. 38 Figure 20. Mass fractions