Heavy metals and selenium in feathers of great tits (Parus major) along a pollution gradient
| Autor: | Marcel Eens, Ellen Janssens, Lieven Bervoets, Tom Dauwe |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2001 |
| Předmět: |
inorganic chemicals
Pollution Cadmium Chemistry Health Toxicology and Mutagenesis media_common.quotation_subject Mineralogy chemistry.chemical_element Zinc Mercury (element) Feather visual_art Environmental chemistry Biomonitoring visual_art.visual_art_medium Environmental Chemistry Arsenic Selenium media_common |
| Zdroj: | Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 20:2815-2820 |
| ISSN: | 1552-8618 0730-7268 |
| Popis: | We evaluated the use of great tit (Parus major) feathers as biomonitors for heavy-metal pollution and tested whether there were differences in metal levels in feathers as a function of location, age (first year or older), or gender. In 1998 and 1999, we collected the outermost tail feathers of 185 great tits from four sites along a presumed pollution gradient and one reference site in Antwerp (Belgium) and analyzed them for calcium, selenium, and 13 heavy metals (silver, aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, mercury, manganese, nickel, lead, and zinc). Silver, arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, copper, mercury, nickel, lead, selenium, and zinc concentrations were significantly higher closest to the pollution source (UM site) compared with the other four sites. Heavy-metal and selenium levels were on average 2 to 40 times higher at the UM site compared with the reference site. Aluminum, calcium, and iron levels were not significantly different among sites. We found no general age- or gender-related differences in metal levels except for arsenic and iron, where a significant interaction between site and gender was observed. Our results suggest that feathers of great tits might be useful biomonitoring tools because they reflect the environmental contamination by heavy metals well. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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