DDT, Chlordane, Toxaphene and PCB Residues in Newport Bay and Watershed: Assessment of Hazard to Wildlife and Human Health - Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology - page 104

Table 18 Osprey
productivity in three regions
of New Jersey. Table 2 in
Steidl et al. ( 1991b )
reproduced with permission

Table 19 DDE and DDD
(ppm fresh wt) in osprey prey
fi sh collected from three
regions of New Jersey. Data
from Table 5 in Steidl et al.
( 1991b )

Region and species n a DDE DDD % Moisture

Atlantic Coast
Menhaden 5 0.05 0.04 62.8

Delaware Bay
Menhaden b 5 0.17 0.12 66.2

White perch c 5 0.68 0.27 71.8

Channel catfi sh d 2 0.25 0.14 71.4

Maurice River
White perch 6 0.05 0.03 72.2

Channel catfi sh 2 0.08 0.03 76.0

a Number of fi sh in composite sample
b Composite contained (ppm) 0.02 p , p ′ -DDT, 0.03 o , p ′ -DDE,

0.08 o , p -DDD

c Composite contained (ppm) 0.11 o , p

′

′ -DDE, 0.27 o , p ′ -DDD

d Composite contained (ppm) 0.03 o , p ′ -DDE, 0.05 o , p ′ -DDD

decrease. One must keep in mind that as DDT residues continued to decrease in the
United States, following the ban in 1972, exposure to DDT in wintering grounds in
Latin America accounted for an increasing proportion of egg residues. DDT was
used in Latin America after 1972 and is still in use in some locations today. These
wintering ground exposures became more important as residues in fi sh in the U. S.
continued to decrease. The multi-year half-life of DDT ensures that the highest
exposures will be refl ected in adipose concentrations that are passed directly into
the yolk of the egg.
Other factors contributing to reproductive effects in ospreys in southern New
Jersey include the presence of 4.1-26 ppm PCBs in the osprey eggs from Delaware Bay
(Steidl et al. 1991b ). The authors noted that the Delaware Bay is routinely dredged
to maintain a shipping channel to ports on the Delaware River. They suggested that
dredging exposed biota to old sediments containing higher residues of DDT and
PCBs, resulting in a slower decline of residues and the persistence of effects no
longer seen at other locations. Another factor is the travel time required to catch fi sh
due to the lack of clarity of the water in the nesting areas that are in the more polluted
parts of the Bay. Long travel times did not limit the food supply but did increase the