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Science 15 July 2005:
Vol. 309. no. 5733, p. 445
DOI: 10.1126/science.1112658
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Brevia

Arctic Seabirds Transport Marine-Derived Contaminants

Jules M. Blais,1* Lynda E. Kimpe,1 Dominique McMahon,1 Bronwyn E. Keatley,2 Mark L. Mallory,3 Marianne S. V. Douglas,4 John P. Smol2

Long-range atmospheric transport of pollutants is generally assumed to be the main vector for arctic contamination, because local pollution sources are rare. We show that arctic seabirds, which occupy high trophic levels in marine food webs, are the dominant vectors for the transport of marine-derived contaminants to coastal ponds. The sediments of ponds most affected by seabirds had 60 times higher DDT, 25 times higher mercury, and 10 times higher hexachlorobenzene concentrations than nearby control sites. Bird guano greatly stimulates biological productivity in these extreme environments but also serves as a major source of industrial and agricultural pollutants in these remote ecosystems.

1 Centre for Advanced Research in Environmental Genomics, Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5 Canada.
2 Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Laboratory, Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6 Canada.
3 Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, Iqaluit, Nunavut, X0A 0H0 Canada.
4 Department of Geology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B1 Canada.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jblais{at}science.uottawa.ca

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)