PCB, DDT, arsenic, and heavy metal (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) concentrations in chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon) eggs from Southwest Spain

This work presents the concentrations of twenty PCB congeners, p,p′-DDT, and its two main metabolites, p,p′-DDE, p,p′-TDE, As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn found in common chameleon eggs from nine different nests located in Southwest Spain. Of the heavy metals and arsenic, Zn and Cu exhibited the highest concentrations in egg contents (ranging from 10 100 to 12 950 and from 567 to 706 ng g−1 wet weight basis [w.w.], respectively) and eggshells (ranging from 5605 to 13 290 ng g−1 w.w. for Zn and from 1487 to 4361 ng g−1 w.w. for Cu). Total PCB concentrations in egg contents ranged from 32 to 52 ng g−1 w.w. and were higher than total dichlorodiphenylethanes concentrations (ranging from 0.67 to 1.9 ng g−1 w.w., calculated as the sum of p,p′-DDT plus p,p′-DDE and p,p′-TDE). Comparison of the data from the present study with the data from a study conducted in 1997 revealed a large decrease in Pb concentration and a twofold increase in PCB concentrations. Taking into account all the pollutants investigated, the contamination level found in common chameleon eggs from Southwest Spain was generally lower than has been reported in the literature for eggs of different reptile species. However, it should be borne in mind that most of the data found in the literature refer to highly polluted areas.