Chlorinated pesticides and PCBs in colonial nesting water birds of Galveston Bay, Texas

Eggs from neotropic cormorants (Phalacrocorax brasilianus), black-crowned night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) and great egrets (Ardea alba) were collected from a heronry located in Alexander Island near the Houston Ship Channel in Galveston Bay. Eggs from neotropic cormorants were also taken from three additional islands located in Galveston Bay and from two locations outside the bay. Each individual egg was analyzed for persistent organochlorine pesticides (i.e. DDTs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to determine differences and similarities in the accumulation of these contaminants among species and to evaluate potential impacts on reproduction.