Trace elements in feathers and eggshells of brown booby Sula leucogaster in the Marine National Park of Currais Islands, Brazil Natiely Natalyane Dolci & Fabian Sá & Eunice da Costa Machado & Ricardo Krul & Renato Rodrigues Neto Received: 7 April 2017 /Accepted: 15 August 2017 # Springer International Publishing AG 2017 Abstract Levels of trace elements were investigated in feathers of 51 adults and 47 eggshells of brown boobies Sula leucogaster from one bird colony in the Marine National Park of Currais Islands, Brazil, between De- cember 2013 and October 2014. Average concentrations (μgg −1 , dry weight) in feathers and eggshells, respec- tively, were Al 50.62–9.58, As 0.35–2.37, Cd 0.05– 0.03, Co 0.38–2.1, Cu 15.12–0.99, Fe 47.47–22.92, Mg 815.71–1116.92, Ni 0.29–11.85, and Zn 94.16– 1.98. In both arrays, the average concentration of Mg was the highest among all the elements analyzed, while the lowest was recorded for Cd. As and Ni presented levels at which biological impacts might occur. Zn con- centrations were higher than those considered normal in other organs. Levels of Al, Fe, Cu, Zn, and Cd were higher in feathers, whereas higher contents of Mg, Co, Ni, and As occurred in eggshells. The comparison between the elements in eggshells collected at different seasons showed no significant difference (p > 0.05) due, probably, to the lack of temporal variation on foraging behavior and/or on bioavailability of trace elements. Metals and arsenic in feathers and eggshells were mostly not correlated. Future studies on Paraná coast should focus on the speciation of the elements, especially As, Ni, and Zn, which proved to be a possible problem for the environment and biota. It is necessary to investigate both matrices, shell and internal contents of the eggs, in order to verify if the differences previously reported in other studies also occur in eggs of brown boobies in the Marine National Park of Currais Islands. Keywords Seabirds . Contamination . Metals . Sulidae . Marine National Park of Currais Islands . Subtropical coastal systems Introduction Due to their location in the trophic chain as top predators and their long-life spans, seabirds are sus- ceptible to bioaccumulation of a wide range of pol- lutants by the air, water, and by the consumption of contaminated prey and are commonly used as ma- rine and coastal pollution tracer (Burger and Gochfeld 2004). Once ingested, pollutants can be stored in several tissues, eliminated directly through excreta, eggs, and eggshells, deposited in uropygial glands and salt glands or even sequestered in feathers (Burger and Gochfeld 1985; Burger 1993; Environ Monit Assess (2017) 189:496 DOI 10.1007/s10661-017-6190-1 N. N. Dolci (*) : R. Krul Center of Marine Studies, Federal University of Paraná, Beira-Mar Avenue, Mailboxl 50.002, Pontal do Sul, Pontal do Paraná, PR 83255976, Brazil e-mail: natidolcii@gmail.com F. Sá : R. Rodrigues Neto Federal University of Espírito Santo, Center of Human and Natural Sciences, Department of Oceanography and Ecology, University Campus Goiabeiras, Fernando Ferrari Avenue, 514, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Goiabeiras, Vitória, ES 29075910, Brazil E. da Costa Machado Institute of Oceanography, Federal University of Rio Grande, Campus Carreiros, Av. Italia km 8, Rio Grande 96203000, Brazil