Spatial and temporal trend of Persistent Organic Pollutants in black-tailed gull eggs from South Korea

Abstract

Eggs have been successfully used as a non-destructive monitoring tool for persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The purpose of this study is to monitor seabird eggs along the Korean coasts to identify the spatial and temporal trend of contaminants. Black-tailed gull eggs were collected from breeding places located in the southern (Hong-do), eastern (Dok-do), and western (Seoman-do) sea of South Korea during 2015-2019 and egg content was used for legacy and new POPs analysis. Among the target analytes, new POPs such as brominated flame retardant (BFRs) and perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) were significantly higher in eggs from Seoman-do than other islands. GPS track data showed that seagull of Seoman-do mainly travel to Incheon and Seoul which are largest cities in Korea, indicating that the accumulation of BFRs and PFAAs in eggs of bird is influenced by location around habitat, such as urbanized city. Overall, the composition of PFAAs and BFRs in eggs from three islands increases over time, while the composition of legacy POPs decreases. In other word, moving trend from legacy POPs to BFRs and PFAAs in seagull eggs from Korea was observed.