Lead in terrestrial game birds from Spain

Autor: Antonio de José, Diego Romero, Juan M. Theureau, Juan B. Torregrosa, Andrés Ferrer, María D. Raigón
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Zdroj: RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
instname
ISSN: 1614-7499
0944-1344
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-06827-y
Popis: [EN] We analysed exposure to Pb and its relationship with lead-based ammunition in seven species of terrestrial game birds-common woodpigeon (Columba palumbus), rock dove (Columba livia), stock dove (Columba oenas), European turtle-dove (Streptopelia turtur), red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa), Barbary partridge (Alectoris barbara) and common quail (Coturnix coturnix)-from rural and urban areas in different parts of Spain (Valencia, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y Leon, Madrid, Islas Canarias and Navarra). A total of 530 liver samples were analysed, and the presence of Pb pellets was studied in the crop, gizzard and intestine; the state and appearance of these organs were also analysed. The number of specimens suspected to have ingested Pb shot was 28 (5.6%), and the geometric mean concentration of hepatic Pb was 0.054 mu g g(-1) (wet weight, ww). A low percentage of samples (4.8%) were above the abnormal exposure threshold (0.65 mu g g(-1) ww), and, in these specimens, renal Pb concentrations were determined. Common woodpigeons and rock doves from Madrid were found to have high concentrations of Pb in their livers, and, so, both species can be considered to be good bioindicators of Pb contamination in rural (common woodpigeons) and urban (rock doves) environments. Partridges bred for hunting may be more prone to ingesting pellets from the environment, a fact that should be taken into account in management decisions.
This study was funded by the Spanish Sectoral Federation of Weapons and Ammunition (FSA). The authors would like to thank Miguel A. Sanchez Isarria for his help in collecting samples, to Valentin Urrutia and Inma Salvat for their help in processing the samples, to Alberto Ferrer (Departamento de Estadistica e Investigacion Operativa Aplicadas y Calidad, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia) for the statistical treatment of the data, and to the Department of Animal Surgery at the Veterinary Clinical Hospital of the University of Murcia for conducting the X-ray analyses of the samples.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz: