Brood patches of American kestrels altered by experimental exposure to PCBs.

Full Abstract

Captive breeding (n = 25 pairs) and nonbreeding (n = 25) American kestrels were exposed to a mixture of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (Aroclor 1248:1254:1260) through their diet of day-old cockerels. Kestrels ingested approximately 7 mg/kg body weight each day of PCBs, and this dosage resulted in environmentally relevant total PCB residues in eggs (geometric mean of 34.1 microg/g). An equal number of unexposed birds served as controls. Bare areas of skin known as brood patches function during incubation to warm eggs; therefore, brood patch size could potentially influence hatching success, or patches may be a confounding factor in the relationship between poor incubation behavior and hatching failure observed in birds in toxicological studies. Exposure to PCBs altered the size of brood patches in American kestrels. PCB-exposed male and female nonbreeders had two of three brood patches that were larger than those of control nonbreeders. Breeding males exposed to PCBs had smaller patches than controls, whereas PCB-exposed female kestrels had one larger and one smaller patch than controls. Patch sizes were not related to total PCB residue levels in eggs of exposed birds. Brood patches were not related to various incubation behaviors or hatching success in either control or PCB-exposed kestrels.

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Author information

Author/s: Fisher, Sheri A (SA); Bortolotti, Gary R (GR); Fernie, Kim J (KJ); Bird, David M (DM); Smits, Judit E (JE);

Affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of toxicology and environmental health. Part A (J Toxicol Environ Health A), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Sep; vol 69 (issue 17) : pp 1603-12

Dates: Created 2006/07/20; Completed 2006/07/28; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 16854788, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Fertility
Male
Ovum - growth & development
Polychlorinated Biphenyls - toxicity
Sexual Behavior, Animal - drug effects
Skin - anatomy & histology; drug effects

Associated Chemicals: Environmental Pollutants (0) ; Polychlorinated Biphenyls (0)

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