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

Figures & data

Table 1 The mean, ±SD, median and data range of POP concentrations (ng/g wet weight (wt)) in feathers, livers and preen glands of adult kittiwakes from Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. Compounds detected below the LOD in more than 60% of the samples are reported as not detected (nd).

		Feathers (ng/g)				Livers (ng/g wet wt)				Preen glands (ng/g wet wt)
Analyte	n	Mean±SD	Median	Range	n	Mean±SD	Median	Range	n	Mean±SD	Median	Range
Lipid content (%)	0/24	nd	nd	nd	24/24	5.78±1.42	5.56	3.90–9.32	24/24	33.8±9.25	32.8	24.6–68.8
ΣHCH^a	19/24	1.20±0.64	1.00	0.54–2.93	19/24	2.55±1.38	2.54	0.45–5.67	24/24	29.2±16.2	28.2	0.89–60.9
HCB	24/24	0.97±0.95	0.73	0.29–4.83	24/24	17.4±5.50	19.1	7.09–26.6	24/24	57.0±16.8	55.0	35.6–117
Heptachlor	3/24	nd	nd	nd	24/24	8.40±4.06	8.19	2.33–17.4	24/24	7.42±3.87	6.33	2.98–20.2
Σchlordanes^b	24/24	4.09±2.76	2.74	1.49–10.7	24/24	27.5±16.3	21.3	5.77–61.7	24/24	172±69.1	155	56.7–320
p,p′-DDE	24/24	11.0±12.9	6.61	0.88–62.4	24/24	50.7±45.6	34.0	6.32–185	24/24	273±200	229	48.3–746
Mirex	2/24	nd	nd	nd	24/24	14.4±9.69	14.2	0.97–32.5	24/24	32.4±12.1	31.7	8.55–57.6
ΣPCBs^c	24/24	62.1±34.9	53.8	22.0–147	24/24	591±402	557	86.8–1285	24/24	2168±1150	1923	806–6083
ΣPOPs^d	24/24	79.3±47.9	69.4	28.9–225	24/24	711±462	668	117–1489	24/24	2739±1260	2383	1070–6625

^aΣHCH=sum of α-HCH, β-HCH and γ-HCH. ^bΣchlordanes=sum of trans-chlordane, cis-chlordane, oxy-chlordane, trans-nonachlor and cis-nonachlor. ^cΣPCBs=sum of PCB-99, -101, -105, -118, -123, -128, -138, -141, -149, -153, -156, -157, -167, -170, -180, -183, -187, -189 and -194. ^dΣPOPs=sum of ΣHCH, HCB, Heptachlor, Σchlordanes, p,p′-DDE, Mirex and ΣPCBs.

Fig. 1  Concentration of sum 19 PCBs in female and male kittiwake tissues. Feather (ng/g wet weight [wt]), liver and preen gland (ng/g lipid wt) from the incubation period (1) and the chick-rearing period (2).

Fig. 2  The POP profiles of feathers, preen glands and livers from kittiwakes. The 95% confidence intervals are indicated with error bars.

Fig. 3  Indirect ordination analysis from a PCA presenting the POPs (β-HCH, HCB, heptachlor, Σchlordanes, p,p′-DDE and ΣPCBs) profile in kittiwake feathers, livers and preen glands. The arrows point in the direction of increasing mean contribution of POP load. Percent variability explained by the two first principal components (PC1 and PC2) is given.

Fig. 4  Box-and-whisker plot of lipid content in kittiwake livers and preen glands during incubation and chick-rearing periods.

Fig. 5  The mean contribution from each lipid class in the kittiwakes’ (a) liver and (b) preen gland as a percent of total lipid content, in the incubation (1) and chick-rearing period (2). The standard deviations are indicated with error bars.