Dechlorane plus and possible degradation products in white stork eggs from Spain

The occurrence of the emerging chlorinated flame retardant Dechlorane Plus (DP) and three of its possible degradation products was investigated in white stork eggs from two colonies in Spain. The average DP concentrations were 401 pg/g wet weight (w.w.) for the urban/industrial colony and 105 pg/g w.w. for the rural colony. One possible degradation product, anti-[DP-1Cl], was found in approximately 10% of the samples. No significant stereoisomer enrichments were detected in any colony based on the average anti-DP fractional abundances found which agrees with previous studies in herring gulls. The relationship between DP and PBDE contents in both colonies was explored leading to different scenarios, i.e. no correlation was found in the urban colony but they were statistically correlated in the rural colony. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report DP in a species from a terrestrial food web, and also to report a DP degradation product in biota.

Research highlights
► Presence of Dechlorane Plus in eggs of a top predator, the white stork.
► Quantification of anti-[DP-1Cl], postulated as a possible degradation DP product.
► No clear enrichment of any DP stereoisomer in white stork eggs.