Access
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
Letters to Nature
Nature 227, 737-738 (15 August 1970) | doi:10.1038/227737a0; Received 23 April 1970
DDE thins Eggshells of Captive American Kestrels
STANLEY N. WIEMEYER & RICHARD D. PORTER
- Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland.
Abstract
EGGSHELL thinning in several species of raptorial and fish-eating birds, whose populations and/or reproductive success have declined dramatically in recent years, has been correlated with residues of DDE [1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl) ethylene] in their eggs1–3. DDE, a common metabolite of DDT [1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl) ethane] and a nearly universal contaminant in the food of these birds, has been considered to be the major chemical responsible for eggshell thinning.
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).