Although plastic ingestion by seabirds is well documented, the risk of bioaccumulating harmful contaminants released from the ingested plastics is poorly understood. This study analysed polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and chlorinated paraffins (CPs) in the liver of adult northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) with varying amounts of ingested plastics sampled at two locations in Norway. PBDEs were detected among all liver samples. However, PBDE209 was found in all plastic and liver samples from birds with ingested plastics but was absent in fulmars without ingested plastics. Therefore, this data strongly suggests the transfer of PBDE209 to the tissue of fulmars.
Although CPs were quantified in all ingested plastic samples, they were only detected sporadically in fulmars with ingested plastics and absent in the livers of birds without ingested plastics. Thus, it is suggested that CPs in fulmars had been eliminated.
To assess if blood samples may serve as a less invasive sampling method for quantifying contaminant loading in fulmars, the blood of juvenile fulmars collected from Svalbard was investigated for PBDEs and CPs. The analyses showed that PBDEs but not CPs were detected suggesting that blood of fulmars may serve as an alternative sampling method to quantify PBDE concentrations in the future.
