Age-dependent accumulation of heavy metals in liver, kidney and lung tissues of homing pigeons in Beijing, China
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Age-dependent accumulation of heavy metals in liver, kidney and lung tissues of homing pigeons in Beijing, China Jia Cui • Bin Wu • Richard S. Halbrook Shuying Zang
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Accepted: 24 September 2013 / Published online: 8 October 2013 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract Biomonitoring provides direct evidence of the bioavailability and accumulation of toxic elements in the environment. In the current study, 1–2, 5–6, and 9–10? year old homing pigeons collected from the Haidian District of Beijing during 2011 were necropsied and concentrations of cadmium, lead, and mercury were measured in liver, lung, and kidney tissue. At necropsy, gray/ black discoloration of the margins of the lungs was observed in 98 % of the pigeons. There were no significant differences in metal concentrations as a function of gender. Cadmium concentrations in all tissues and Pb concentrations in the lung tissues were significantly greater in 9–10? year old pigeons compared to other age groups indicating that Cd and Pb were bioavailable. Mercury concentrations were not significantly different among age groups. Cadmium concentrations in kidney and lung tissues of 9–10? year old pigeons were similar to or exceeded concentrations of Cd reported in pigeons from another high traffic urban area and most wild avian species from Korea suggesting that Cd in this region of Beijing may be of concern. Homing pigeons provide valuable exposure and bioaccumulation data not readily available from air monitoring alone, thus providing information regarding potential health effects in wildlife and humans in urban areas. As environmental quality standards are implemented in China,
J. Cui B. Wu S. Zang (&) Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Monitoring of Geographic Environment, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, Heilongjiang, People’s Republic of China e-mail: [email protected] R. S. Halbrook Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Southern Illinois University (Emeritus), Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
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homing pigeons will serve as a valuable bio-monitor of the efficacy of these actions. Keywords Heavy metals Homing pigeons Tissues Distribution Age
Introduction There is public concern about atmospheric heavy metals as a potential risk to human and animal populations (Mailman 1980; Merian 1991; Swaileh and Sansur 2006). Atmospheric concentrations of heavy metals primarily result from burning of urban and industrial wastes, mining, smelting processes, gas emission from motor vehicles, and combustion of fossil fuels (Harrop et al. 1990; Mohammed et al. 2011) and are known to have long lasting toxic effects that cannot be easily alleviated through biodegradation (Clark 1992). Chronic exposure to toxic elements, even at very low concentrations, have damaging effects on humans and animals (Falandysz 1994; Ikeda et al. 2000; Nam and Lee 2006), and detrimental impacts become apparent after several years of exposure (Furness 1996). Mechanical air monitoring provides data on atmospheric concentrations of various pollutants; however, animal
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