Chlorinated contaminants in chorio-allantoic membranes from great blue heron eggs at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station

Chorio-allantoic membranes (CAMS) were collected and analyzed for chlorinated hydrocarbons as part of a wildlife toxicology demonstration project at Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island, Washington, USA. Concentrations of DDT, DDE, DDD, Aroclor 1254, and Aroclor 1260 were found at concentrations below 0.4 ppm for 13 of 14 samples. The low correlations among DDT and its metabolites in CAMS suggest herons are not being exposed to a consistent source of these compounds. Comparison of chlorinated hydrocarbon data for CAMS from three Puget Sound heron colonies, NAS Whidbey, Samish Island and Dumas Bay, indicates contaminant burdens in herons from NAS Whidbey and Samish Island are significantly lower than burdens in herons from Dumas Bay.