The black-legged kittiwake preen gland—an overlooked organ for depuration of fat-soluble contaminants?

Polar research

Ingvar Byrkjedal¹  Kjetil Sagerup²  Geir Wing Gabrielsen³  Silje Aakre Solheim⁴  Sandra Huber⁵ 

[1] Akvaplan-niva AS Fram Centre, PO Box 6606, Langnes, NO-9296 Tromsø, NorwayCorrespondence;Norwegian Polar Institute Fram Centre, PO Box 6606, Langnes, NO-9296 Tromsø, Norway;Department of Environmental Chemistry Norwegian Institute for Air Research, PO Box 6606, Langnes, Fram Centre, NO-9296 Tromsø, Norway;Department of Natural HistoryUniversity Museum of Bergen, University of Bergen, NO-5020, Allégt. 41 NO-5020, Bergen, Norway;Norwegian Polar Institute Fram Centre, PO Box 6606, Langnes, NO-9296 Tromsø, Norway

关键词: Feather;    organochlorinated pesticides;    polychlorinated biphenyls;    Rissa tridactyla.;   

DOI  :  10.3402/polar.v35.29651

学科分类：自然科学（综合）

来源: Co-Action Publishing

【 摘 要 】

Most birds preen their feathers with an oily excrete from the uropygial (preen) gland. This oily excrete contains persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which make the preen gland a potential route of depuration of POPs in birds. Black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) were studied during two periods of high energy demand: incubation and chick-rearing. A rather high concentration of POPs in preen gland tissue indicates that the preen gland secrete is an excretory pathway for POPs in kittiwakes. The similarity in the POP profile detected in this study of liver, preen gland and feathers suggests that POPs found in the feathers are excreted through the preen gland. The finding also indicates that excretion of POPs through the preen gland is compound unspecific. This qualitative study should be followed up by a new quantitative study to determine the importance of excretion of POPs through the preen gland.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC