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Heavy metals and selenium in feathers of great tits ( Parus major ) along a pollution gradient
Author(s) -
Janssens Ellen,
Dauwe Tom,
Bervoets Lieven,
Eens Marcel
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.5620201221
Subject(s) - feather , cadmium , arsenic , parus , mercury (programming language) , biomonitoring , selenium , environmental chemistry , zinc , pollution , bioindicator , chemistry , metallurgy , ecology , biology , materials science , organic chemistry , computer science , programming language
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.