Biomedical subjects

Stacy S Vander Pol

Publications and source records attributed to Stacy S Vander Pol.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Development of a murre (Uria spp.) egg control material.

The Seabird Tissue Archival and Monitoring Project (STAMP) is a collaborative Alaska-wide effort by the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (USFWS/AMNWR), the US Geological Survey's Biological Resources Division (USGS/BRD), the Bureau of Indian Affairs Alaska Region Subsistence Branch (BIA/ARSB), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to monitor long-term (decadal) trends in environmental contaminants using seabird eggs. To support this effort, a matrix- (seabird egg) and concentration-specific control material was needed to ensure quality during analytical work. Although a herring gull egg quality assurance (HGQA) material is available from Environment Canada (EC), contaminant concentrations in this material tended to be higher than those observed in Alaskan murre (Uria spp.) eggs. Therefore, to prepare a more appropriate control material, a total of 12 common murre (U. aalge) and thick-billed murre (U. lomvia) eggs from four Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska nesting locations were cryohomogenized to create 190 aliquots each containing approximately 6 g. This new control material was analyzed by different methods at NIST and EC facilities for the determination of concentrations and value assignment of 63 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners, 20 organochlorine pesticides, and 11 polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners. The total PCB concentration is approximately 58 ng g(-1) wet mass. Results obtained for analytes not listed on the certificates of analysis of the previously used control materials, HGQA and NIST's Standard Reference Material (SRM) 1946 Lake Superior Fish Tissue, are also presented.

Alaska↗

PubMed2006

Murre eggs (Uria aalge and Uria lomvia) as indicators of mercury contamination in the Alaskan marine environment.

Sixty common murre (Uria aalge) and 27 thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia) eggs collected by the Seabird Tissue Archival and Monitoring Project (STAMP) in 1999-2001 from two Gulf of Alaska and three Bering Sea nesting colonies were analyzed for total mercury (Hg) using isotope dilution cold vapor inductively coupled mass spectrometry. Hg concentrations (wet mass) ranged from 0.011 microg/g to 0.357 microg/g (relative standard deviation = 76%), while conspecifics from the same colonies and years had an average relative standard deviation of 33%. Hg levels in eggs from the Gulf of Alaska (0.166 microg/g +/- 0.011 microg/g) were significantly higher (p < 0.0001) than in the Bering Sea (0.047 microg/g +/- 0.004 microg/g). Within the Bering Sea, Hg was significantly higher (p = 0.0007) in eggs from Little Diomede Island near the arctic than at the two more southern colonies. Although thick-billed and common murres are ecologicallysimilar,there were significant species differences in egg Hg concentrations within each region (p < 0.0001). In the Bering Sea, eggs from thick-billed murres had higher Hg concentrations than eggs from common murres, while in the Gulf of Alaska, common murre eggs had higher concentrations than those of thick-billed murres. A separate one-way analysis of variance on the only time-trend data currently available for a colony (St. Lazaria Island in the Gulf of Alaska) found significantly lower Hg concentrations in common murre eggs collected in 2001 compared to 1999 (p = 0.017). Results from this study indicate that murre eggs may be effective monitoring units for detecting geographic, species, and temporal patterns of Hg contamination in marine food webs. The relatively small intracolony variation in egg Hg levels and the ability to consistently obtain adequate sample sizes both within and among colonies over a large geographic range means that monitoring efforts using murre eggs will have suitable statistical power for detecting environmental patterns of Hg contamination. The potential influences of trophic effects, physical transport patterns, and biogeochemical processes on these monitoring efforts are discussed, and future plans to investigate the sources of the observed variability are presented.

Alaska↗

PubMed2004

Persistent organic pollutants in Alaskan murre (Uria spp.) eggs: geographical, species, and temporal comparisons.

Concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in eggs of common and thick-billed murres (Uria aalge and U. lomvia) from five Alaskan nesting colonies were dominated by 4,4'-DDE, total polychlorinated biphenyls (totalPCBs; 46 congeners comprised mainly of PCB congeners 153, 118, 138, 99, and 151), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), beta-hexachlorocyclohexane (beta-HCH), and chlordane compounds (totalCHL). Concentrations of 4,4'-DDE, cis-nonachlor, and heptachlor epoxide were lower than those reported for some of the same colonies in the 1970s, while HCB concentrations were similar. In general, significantly higher concentrations were found in eggs from Gulf of Alaska colonies compared to those from Bering Sea colonies except for HCB (higher in the Bering Sea) and beta-HCH (no significant difference between the two regions). Thick-billed murre eggs contained higher concentrations of 4,4'-DDE and totalPCBs, whereas common murre eggs had higher HCB concentrations. Possible factors contributing to the POPs patterns found in eggs from these murre colonies are discussed.

Alaska↗

PubMed2004

Polybrominated diphenyl ether congeners and toxaphene in selected marine standard reference materials.

Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners and components of the complex mixture toxaphene are stable in the environment and readily bioaccumulated into wildlife and human tissues. PBDEs are presently used in large quantities worldwide as flame retardants in textiles, furniture, computer equipment, and cables. Toxaphene is a complex mixture of chlorinated bornanes and bornenes that was the most heavily used pesticide in the United States until it was banned in 1982; however, some countries continue to use toxaphene. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has quantified PBDE congeners and toxaphene in several available Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) using methods of gas chromatography with electron impact mass spectrometry (GC-EI-MS) and GC negative chemical ionization (NCI) MS, respectively. SRM 1588a Organics in Cod Liver Oil and SRM 1945 Organics in Whale Blubber were examined for PBDE congeners 47, 99, 100, 153, and 154, total toxaphene, and toxaphene congeners 26, 50, and 62. SRM 1946 Lake Superior Fish Tissue was also examined for total toxaphene and toxaphene congeners. The sum of the PBDE congeners (mean, (1 SD) wet basis) for SRM 1945 was 150 ng g(-1) (7 ng g(-1)). The concentration of PBDE 47 in SRM 1588a was 82.7 ng g(-1) (2.8 ng g(-1)). Other PBDEs were detected in SRM 1588a but were not quantified due their low levels. The total toxaphene (wet mass basis) was 1,210 ng g(-1) (127 ng g(-1)), 1,960 ng g(-1) (133 ng g(-1)), and 3,980 ng g(-1) (248 ng g(-1)) in SRMs 1945, 1946, and 1588a, respectively. The values for PBDEs and toxaphene determined in the SRMs, while not certified, indicate that the SRMs will be suitable control materials for PBDE and toxaphene analyses.

Adipose Tissue↗