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Mercury and Other Metals in Feathers of Common Eider (Somateria mollissima) and Tufted Puffin (Fratercula cirrhata) from the Aleutian Chain of Alaska

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Abstract

We analyzed arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, manganese, mercury, and selenium in the feathers of common eiders (Somateria mollissima) and tufted puffins (Fratercula cirrhata) from Amchitka and Kiska islands (Aleutians). Between species, puffins had 10 times higher chromium (arithmetic mean = 1820 ppb), 7.5 times higher selenium (mean = 6600 ppb), and 3 times higher mercury (mean = 2540 ppb) than eiders. Eiders had significantly higher levels of manganese than puffins. Puffins are higher on the food chain than eiders, which is reflected in their generally higher levels of metals in their feathers. Interisland differences were generally small, and there were few significant differences as a function of the three nuclear test locations on Amchitka. The only sex-related difference was that female puffins had higher mercury than males (arithmetic mean of 3060 ppb vs. 2270 ppb). Mean levels of metals in the feathers of puffins and eiders from the Aleutians were low compared with comparable studies elsewhere, and the relatively low levels of metals do not indicate the potential for adverse behavioral or reproductive effects in the birds themselves, nor pose concern for other consumers, including subsistence hunters.

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Acknowledgments

Feathers were collected under appropriate state and federal permits (04-079, MBO-86658-0, and 22833), and our studies were approved by the Rutgers University Animal Review Board. We thank the many people who contributed to the development and execution of CRESP’s Amchitka Geophysical and Biological Project, especially C. W. Powers, D. Kosson, B. Friedlander, C. Jeitner, S. Burke, D. Volz, and S. Jewett. We also thank the following for help throughout the project: D. Barnes, L. Duffy, A. Morkill, R. Patrick, D. Rogers, D. Dasher, and the people of the villages of Unalaska, Nikolski, Atka, and Adak in the Aleutians. Technical help was provided by T. Shukla, S. Shukla, M. Donio, C. Chin, A. Qu, and C. Lamptey. We thank the entire crew of the Ocean Explorer, Captain Ray Haddon, mate Glenn Jahnke, cook Don Dela Cruz, and Bill Dixon, Joao Do Mar, and Walter Pestka, for making our field work possible and pleasant and for bringing us safely back to port. This research was funded by the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation (CRESP) through the Department of Energy (DE-FG 26-00NT 40938, DE-FC01-86EW07053), the Division of Life Sciences of Rutgers University, by Wildlife Trust, and by NIEHS ESO 5022. The results, conclusions, and interpretations reported herein are the sole responsibility of the authors and should not in any way be interpreted as representing the views of the funding agencies.

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Correspondence to Joanna Burger.

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Burger, J., Gochfeld, M. Mercury and Other Metals in Feathers of Common Eider (Somateria mollissima) and Tufted Puffin (Fratercula cirrhata) from the Aleutian Chain of Alaska. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 56, 596–606 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-008-9207-5

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