Mercury Concentrations Vary Within and Among Individual Bird Feathers: A Critical Evaluation and Guidelines for Feather Use in Mercury Monitoring Programs

Feathers are widely used to represent mercury contamination in birds. Yet, few recommendations exist that provide guidance for using bird feathers in mercury monitoring programs. We conducted a literature review and 5 experiments to show that mercury concentrations vary substantially within (vane >100% higher than calamus) and among (>1000%) individual feathers from the same bird. We developed a research tool and guidelines for using bird feathers for mercury studies based on 3 components: 1) variability of feather mercury concentrations within an individual bird (coefficient of variation), 2) desired accuracy of the measured mercury concentration, and 3) feather and bird mass. Our results suggest a general rule that if the goal is to limit analytical and processing costs by using whole feathers in only one sample boat, then to achieve an accuracy within 10% of a bird's overall average feather mercury concentration a bird with a coefficient of variation <= 10% must be (size of a large shorebird). To achieve an accuracy within 20%, a bird with a coefficient of variation <= 10% must be <920 g (a large duck). When more than one sample boat is needed to fit the required number of feathers to achieve the desired accuracy, the results suggest homogenizing feathers and analyzing an aliquot of >= 20 mg for mercury. The present study suggests increasing the number of feathers typically used per bird to assess mercury concentrations. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:1164-1187. Published 2019 Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.