Levels and distribution pattern of organochlorine pesticide residues in eggs of 22 terrestrial birds from Tamil Nadu, India.

Dhananjayan Venugopal, Muralidharan Subramanian, Jayakumar Rajamani, Jayanthi Palaniyappan, Jayakumar Samidurai, Alaguraj Arumugam
Author Information
  1. Dhananjayan Venugopal: ICMR-Regional Occupational Health Centre (Southern), Indian Council of Medical Research, Bangalore, 562110, India. dhananjayan_v@yahoo.com. ORCID
  2. Muralidharan Subramanian: Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty, Coimbatore, 641108, India.
  3. Jayakumar Rajamani: GITAM University, Bangalore Campus, Nagadenahalli, Bangalore, 561203, India.
  4. Jayanthi Palaniyappan: Department of Environmental Science, Periyar University, Salem, Tamil Nadu, 636011, India.
  5. Jayakumar Samidurai: Department of Zoology & Wildlife Biology, A.V.C. College (Autonomous), Mayiladuthurai, 609305, India.
  6. Alaguraj Arumugam: Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty, Coimbatore, 641108, India.

Abstract

Long-term monitoring is essential to assess the patterns and distribution of the residues of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in biota. Bird eggs have several advantages than other environmental matrixes, which have been used extensively to portray the accumulation and distribution of OCPs. The present study investigated the organochlorine pesticide (OCP) residues in eggs of 22 species of terrestrial birds collected from Tamil Nadu, India. Eggs found abandoned were collected during nest monitoring between 2001 and 2008 and analyzed for the presence of organochlorine pesticide residues. The results showed that the mean concentrations of total hexachlorohexane (∑HCHs), total dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (∑DDTs), heptachlor epoxide, and dieldrin ranged from non-detectable (nd) to 2800 ng/g, nd to1000 ng/g, nd to 700 ng/g, and nd to 240 ng/g on a wet mass (wm) basis, respectively. The variation in magnitude of contamination among the species and feeding guilds were not significantly different (p > 0.05). Among the OCPs analyzed, the residues of β-HCH and p,p'-DDE were found to be the abundant in concentration. Similarly, among various bird species studied, the highest concentrations of ∑OCPs (> 5000 ng/g wm) were recorded in the eggs of gray junglefowl, scaly-breasted munia, and red-whiskered bulbul. This may be due to their widespread occurrence of their habitat at proximity to the agricultural fields, where organochlorines were in use until recently. Among the various contaminants analyzed, concentrations of p,p'-DDE and heptachlor epoxide exceeded the threshold levels of toxicity for wild birds in > 5% of the egg samples. Hence, this study indicates the need for continued monitoring and further systematic ecotoxicological investigation of these compounds not only in eggs but also in other environmental media.

Keywords

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MeSH Term

Animals
Birds
Environmental Monitoring
Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated
India
Pesticide Residues
Pesticides

Chemicals

Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated
Pesticide Residues
Pesticides

Word Cloud

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