Abstract
We collected, 342 blood samples from spectacled eiders (Somateria fischeri) on their breeding grounds in western Alaska from late May through to early August 1993–1995. Lead concentrations of ≥0.50 p.p.m. wet weight were found in the blood of 20% of the adult female eiders, 2% of the adult males and 6% of the ducklings. Lead was detected (≥0.02 p.p.m.) more frequently in the blood of adult females than in adult males or ducklings and the maximum concentrations were 14.37, 0.50 and 4.28 p.p.m. wet weight, respectively. In adult females, there was a significant difference in the proportion of detectable blood lead concentrations between three collection times (arrival/nesting, hatch and brood rearing), with the highest proportion (92%) occurring at hatch. Nine hens with blood lead concentrations of ≥0.50 p.p.m. were captured a second time several weeks to 1 year later. In the hens sampled twice at intervals of several weeks, the blood lead concentrations increased and declined at mean daily rates of 1.10 and 0.94, respectively. The lead concentrations in the blood of adults were not correlated with body weights. Radiographs were taken of 119 eiders and corresponding blood samples from 98 of these birds were analysed for lead. Ingested shot was seen in X-rays of 12 adults and three ducklings and, of the 13 blood samples tested, all had detectable lead concentrations. Of the birds without radiographic evidence of ingested shot, 84% of the adult females, 19% of the adult males and 17% of the ducklings had detectable lead concentrations in their blood. Breeding ground exposure of waterfowl to lead shot is unusual and is of particular concern in spectacled eiders because of their threatened status and declining numbers in western Alaska.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, W.L. (1992) Legislation and lawsuits in the United States and their effects on nontoxic shot regulations. In D.J. Pain (ed) Lead poisoning in waterfowl, pp. 56–60. Gloucester: International Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Bureau.
Anderson, W.L. and Havera, S.P. (1985) Blood lead, protoporphyrin, and ingested shot for detecting lead poisoning in waterfowl. Wildlife Soc. Bull. 13, 26–31.
Bloom, M.A., Domm, L.V., Nalbandov, A.V. and Bloom, W. (1958) Medullary bone of laying chickens. Am. J. Anat. 102, 411–53.
Burger, J. and Gochfeld, M. (1993) Lead and cadmium accumulation in eggs and fledgling seabirds in the New York Bight. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 12, 261–7.
Dau, C. P. (1974) Nesting biology of the spectacled eider Somateria fischeri (Brandt) on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. MS thesis, University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
Dau, C.P. and Kistchinski, S.A. (1977) Seasonal movements and distribution of the spectacled eider. Wildfowl 28, 65–75.
Daury, R.W., Schwab, F.E. and Bateman, M.C. (1993) Blood lead concentrations of waterfowl from unhunted and heavily hunted marshes of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, Canada. J. Wildlife Dis. 29, 577–81.
DeStefano, S., Brand, C.J., Rusch, D.H., Finley, D.L. and Gillespie, M.M. (1991) Lead exposure in Canada geese of the eastern prairie population. Wildlife Soc. Bull. 19, 23–32.
Finley, M.T. and Dieter, M.P. (1978) Influence of laying on lead accumulation in bone of mallard ducks. J. Toxicol. Environ. Health 4, 123–9.
Finley, M.T., Dieter, M.P. and Locke, L.N. (1976) Lead in tissues of mallard ducks dosed with two types of lead shot. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 16, 261–9.
Flint, P.L. (1998) Settlement rate of lead shot in tundra wetlands. J. Wildlife Manage. 62, in press.
Flint, P.L. and Grand, J.B. (1997) Survival of spectacled eider adult females and ducklings during brood rearing. J. Wildlife Manage. 61, 217–21.
Flint, P.L., Petersen, M.R. and Grand, J.B. (1997) Exposure of spectacled eiders and other diving ducks to lead in western Alaska. Can. J. Zool. 75, 439–43.
Franson, J.C., Haramis, G.M., Perry, M.C. and Moore, J.F. (1986) Blood protoporphyrin for detecting lead exposure in canvasbacks. In J.S. Feierabend and A.B. Russell (eds) Lead poisoning in wild waterfowl–a workshop. pp. 32–7. Washington, DC: National Wildlife Federation.
Franson, J.C., Petersen, M.R., Meteyer, C.U. and Smith, M.R. (1995) Lead poisoning of spectacled eiders (Somateria fischeri) and of a common eider (Somateria mollissima) in Alaska. J. Wildlife Dis. 31, 268–71.
Franson, J.C., Hohman, W.L., Moore, J.L. and Smith, M.R. (1996) The efficacy of protoporphyrin as a predictive biomarker for lead exposure in canvasback ducks: effect of sample storage time. Environ. Monitor. Assess. 43, 181–8.
Grand, J.B., Flint, P.L., Petersen, M.R. and Moran, T.L. (1998) Variation in survival rates of spectacled eiders on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. J. Wildlife Manage. 62, in press.
Havera, S.P., Whitton, R.M. and Shealy, R.T. (1992) Blood lead and ingested and embedded shot in diving ducks during spring. J. Wildlife Manage. 56, 539–45.
Hohman, W.L., Pritchert, R.D., Pace, R.M., III, Woolington, D.W. and Helm, R. (1990) Influence of ingested lead on body mass of wintering canvasbacks. J. Wildlife Manage. 54, 211–5.
Hohman, W.L., Moore, J.L. and Franson, J.C. (1995) Winter survival of immature canvasbacks in inland Louisiana. J. Wildlife Manage. 59, 384–92.
Klein, D.R. (1966) Waterfowl in the economy of the Eskimos on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. Arctic 19, 319–36.
Mautino, M. and Bell, J.U. (1986) Experimental lead toxicity in the ring-necked duck. Environ. Res. 41, 538–45.
Mautino, M. and Bell, J.U. (1987) Hematological evaluation of lead intoxication in mallards. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 38, 78–85.
Ohlendorf, H.M. (1993) Marine birds and trace elements in the temperate North Pacific. In K. Vermeer, K.T. Briggs, K.H. Morgan and D. Siegel-Causey (eds) The status, ecology, and conservation of marine birds of the north Pacific, pp. 232–40. Ottawa: Canadian Wildlife Service.
Pain, D.J. (1989) Haematological parameters as predictors of blood lead and indicators of lead poisoning in the black duck (Anas rubripes). Environ. Pollut. 60, 67–81.
Pain, D.J. (1995) Lead in the environment. In D.J. Hoffman, B.A. Rattner, G.A. Burton, Jr and J. Cairns, Jr (eds) Handbook of ecotoxicology, pp. 356–91. Boca Raton, FL: Lewis Publishers.
Pain, D.J. (1996) Lead in waterfowl. In W.N. Beyer, G.H. Heinz and A.W. Redmon-Norwood (eds) Environmental contaminants in wildlife: interpreting tissue concentrations, pp. 251–64. Boca Raton, FL: Lewis Publishers.
Pain, D.J. and Rattner, B.A. (1988) Mortality and hematology associated with the ingestion of one number four lead shot in black ducks. Anas rubripes. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 40, 159–64.
Pattee, O.H. (1984) Eggshell thickness and reproduction in American kestrels exposed to chronic dietary lead. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 13, 29–34.
Petersen, M.R., Douglas, D.C. and Mulcahy, D.M. (1995) Use of implanted satellite transmitters to locate spectacled eiders atsea. Condor 97, 276–8.
Rocke, T.E. and Samuel, M.D. (1991) Effects of lead shot ingestion on selected cells of the mallard immune system. J. Wildlife Dis. 27, 1–9.
Rocke, T.E., Brand, C.J. and Mensik, J.G. (1997) Site-specific lead exposure from lead pellet ingestion in sentinel mallards. J. Wildlife Manage. 61, 228–34.
Samuel, M.D., Bowers, E.F. and Franson, J.C. (1992) Lead exposure and recovery rates of black ducks banded in Tennessee. J. Wildlife Dis. 28, 555–61.
Sanderson, G.C. and Bellrose, F.C. (1986) A Review of the Problem of Lead Poisoning in Waterfowl. Champaign, IL: Ilinois Natural History Survey.
SAS Institute, Inc. (1990) SAS/STAT User's Guide, Version 6. Cary, NC: SAS Institute, Inc.
Scheuhammer, A.M. (1987) The chronic toxicity of aluminium, cadmium, mercury, and lead in birds: a review. Environ. Pollut. 46, 263–95.
Scheuhammer, A.M. (1989) Monitoring wild bird populations for lead exposure. J. Wildlife Manage. 53, 759–65.
Simkiss, K. (1961) Calcium metabolism and avian reproduction. Biol. Rev. 36, 321–67.
Stehn, R.A., Dau, C.P., Conant, B. and Butler, W.I., Jr (1993) Decline of spectacled eiders nesting in western Alaska. Arctic 46, 264–77.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Christian Franson, J., Petersen, M.R., Creekmore, L.H. et al. Blood Lead Concentrations of Spectacled Eiders Near the Kashunuk River, Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. Ecotoxicology 7, 175–181 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014308411665
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014308411665