Way-Beyond-Lethal Levels Of DDT Discovered In Birds, Eggs At St. Louis Velsicol Site
Michigan State University environmental toxicology professor Matt Zwiernik presented part two of the results from the 2013 dead bird collection in St. Louis to the Pine River Superfund Taskforce Wednesday.
Zwiernik’s team monitored 60 active nests not only in the nine-block residential area surrounding the former Velsicol plant site but also 15 kilometers downstream. As was the case with the first batch of results, American robins eggs collected contained DDx levels far above those found to induce death in laboratory settings.
“Egg DDx levels in the nine-block residential area are some of the highest ever recorded,” Zwiernik said. Tissue concentration in the residential area ranged from 57 parts-per-million to 770 ppm, averaging 153 ppm. The threshold for death is between 1-40 ppm, depending on the species, meaning even eggs collected with the least concentrations were far above safe levels.
“I can’t find anywhere in the literature where an egg had 770 ppm,” Zwiernik said. “It doesn’t appear to be possible, it is.” DDx includes DDT, and the breakdown compounds of DDD and DDE. The nests were monitored twice a week and one or more eggs were taken from 23 of the sixty nests.
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http://www.themorningsun.com/general-news/20140821/results-from-second-part-of-contamination-study-show-deadly-levels-in-st-louis-robins
