Lower levels of environmental contaminants—including pesticides, flame retardants and other pollutants—were recently found in osprey eggs in the Delaware Estuary compared to those tested from the 1970s through the early 2000s.
Lower levels of environmental contaminants—including pesticides, flame retardants and other pollutants—were recently found in osprey eggs in the Delaware Estuary compared to those tested from the 1970s through the early 2000s.
The research is published by the U.S. Geological Survey in the journal, Science of the Total Environment.
USGS scientists looked at conditions in 2015 and concluded that contaminant levels do not seem to pose a substantial risk to individual ospreys or their population numbers in the Delaware Estuary.
Pollution in the estuary has been documented for more than two centuries, and this contamination caused population declines in ospreys and other fish-eating birds in the second half of the 20th century.
“We are seeing less contamination now in the Delaware Estuary, and this likely reflects reduced pollution and ongoing cleanup efforts by local, state and federal governments as well as conservation groups, the public and other organizations working together to improve the estuary’s health, ultimately helping with the upswing in breeding success for ospreys,” said USGS ecotoxicologist Barnett Rattner, who is the lead author of this study. “Our recent study highlights the benefits that remediation and mitigation efforts are having on ospreys and the ecosystem, and this will help inform decisions to continue progress and further enhance the environmental quality of the ecosystem.”
Continue reading at USGS.
Image via USGS.
