Toxic industrial pollutants contaminate bird eggs in Australia’s major eastern cities at levels seven to nine times higher than those in inland areas, a new study has found.
The findings raise questions about potential impacts on bird breeding success and about the accumulation of such toxins in their predators higher up the food chain.
Researchers at the Australian Wetlands and Rivers Centre at UNSW tested for pollution levels in eggs of Australian white ibis sampled in and around Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane and Melbourne and compared them with eggs from the same species at four rural wetlands in NSW, Victoria and South Australia.
Read more at UNSW Sydney