Metal concentrations in homing pigeon lung tissue as a biomonitor of atmospheric pollution
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Metal concentrations in homing pigeon lung tissue as a biomonitor of atmospheric pollution Jia Cui1 Richard S. Halbrook2 Shuying Zang1 Shuang Han3 Xinyu Li3 ●
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Accepted: 24 November 2017 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2017
Abstract Atmospheric pollution in urban areas is a major worldwide concern with potential adverse impacts on wildlife and humans. Biomonitoring can provide direct evidence of the bioavailability and bioaccumulation of toxic metals in the environment that is not available with mechanical air monitoring. The current study continues our evaluation of the usefulness of homing pigeon lung tissue as a biomonitor of atmospheric pollution. Homing pigeons (1–2, 5–6, and 9–10+ year old (yo)) collected from Guangzhou during 2015 were necropsied and concentrations of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg) were measured in lung tissue. Lung Cd and Pb concentrations were significantly greater in 9–10+-year-old pigeons compared with those in other age groups, indicating their bioavailability and bioaccumulation. Lung Pb and Cd concentrations measured in 5-yo pigeons collected from Guangzhou during 2015 were significantly lower than concentrations reported in 5-yo homing pigeons collected from Guangzhou during 2011 and correlated with concentrations measured using mechanical air monitoring. In addition to temporal differences, spatial differences in concentrations of Cd, Pb, and Hg reported in ambient air samples and in pigeon lung tissues collected from Beijing and Guangzhou are discussed.
* Shuying Zang [email protected] 1
Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Monitoring of Geographic Environment, Harbin Normal University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150025, PR China
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Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Southern Illinois University (Emeritus), Carbondale, IL 62901, USA
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College of Geographical Science, Harbin Normal University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150025, PR China
Keywords Homing pigeons heavy metals lung tissue air pollution biomonitor ●
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Introduction Atmospheric pollution in urban areas is a major worldwide concern with potential adverse impacts on wildlife and humans (Mailman 1980; Merian 1991; Swaileh and Sansur 2006; Mohammed et al. 2011). Monitoring and evaluating the impacts of atmospheric contaminants is commonly accomplished using mechanical air-monitoring devices, and, although mechanical devices can be useful in measuring contaminants in the air, it is difficult to obtain continuously collected data that may capture spikes in contaminant exposure. The mechanics and interactions of contaminants bound to different particulate materials in air are complex, making it a challenge to assess the bioavailability of contaminants bound to air particulate matter and to evaluate effects of simultaneous exposure to multiple contaminants (Eens et al. 1999; Gragnaniello et al. 2001; Kim et al. 2009; Liu et al. 2010). There have been attempts to use various animal species as biomonitors of exposure and effects of environmental pollution; however, obtaining accur
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