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Lead and stable lead isotope ratios in soil, earthworms, and bones of American woodcock ( Scolopax minor ) from eastern Canada
Author(s) -
Scheuhammer Anton M.,
Bond Della E.,
Burgess Neil M.,
Rodrigue Jean
Publication year - 2003
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 - 10.1897/02-361
Subject(s) - earthworm , soil water , woodcock , dry weight , environmental chemistry , ecology , zoology , environmental science , chemistry , biology , agronomy
A study to discriminate among different possible sources of elevated Pb exposure for American woodcock ( Scolopax minor ) in eastern Canada is described. Undamaged wing bones excised from young‐of‐the‐year woodcock collected from several locations in southern Ontario, southern Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, Canada, along with soil and earthworm ( Aporrectodea tuberculata and Lumbricus rubellus ) samples from the same sites, were analyzed for total Pb, and stable Pb isotopes. Ignoring six soil samples with high (>60 μg/g) Pb concentration from the vicinity of Montreal (QC, Canada), the mean soil‐Pb concentration for all sites combined was 19 μg/g (dry wt; n = 64), with a mean 206 Pb: 207 Pb ratio of 1.19, values typical for uncontaminated rural soils in eastern North America. In earthworms, Pb concentrations ranged from 2.4 to 865 (μg/g [dry wt], mean = 24 μg/g). Concentrations of Pb in worms and soils were positively correlated ( r = 0.71; p < 0.01), and 206 Pb: 207 Pb ratios for worms and soils were also positively correlated ( r = 0.54; p < 0.05). However, most young‐of‐the‐year woodcock with high bone‐Pb accumulation (>20 μg/g) had 206 Pb: 207 Pb ratios substantially different from worms and soils sampled from the same areas, even though woodcock feed extensively on soil invertebrates, especially earthworms. The range of 206 Pb: 207 Pb ratios in wing bones of woodcock with elevated Pb exposure was not consistent with exposure to environmental Pb from past gasoline combustion nor Precambrian mining wastes but was consistent with ingestion of spent Pb shotgun pellets.