HEAVY METALS IN THE MALLARD ANAS PLATYRHYNCHOS FROM EASTERN AUSTRIA

Author(s)

Christof Plessl, P. Jandrisits, Regina Krachler, Bernhard Keppler, Franz Jirsa

Abstract

The global anthropogenic distribution of heavy

metals has led to multiplied environmental concentrations in particular for

lead, copper, zinc and others in all regions of the world (Nriagu, 1996). Anthropogenic sources of heavy

metals often end up in wetlands (Levengood,

2003), where all aquatic biota, including waterfowl, may be exposed to

this pollution. Mallards might be exposed to heavy metals by uptake through contaminated

food. In addition to this common way of metal uptake, a hazard has been

observed for waterfowl: uptake of lead shotgun pellets. Added up with lost

plummets from the fisheries, an annual input of 600t of metallic lead into the environment

in Austria has been estimated recently (Reisinger

et al., 2009). Although metallic lead is not readily bioavailable, it

has been shown that the low pH and mechanical abrasion in the bird’s stomach

leads to partial dissolution of these pellets. This combined exposure to

contamination may lead to accumulation of metals in the tissues of these birds.

had the opportunity to investigate levels of heavy metals in muscle and liver

tissue from mallards before the ban of lead shotgun pellets. In addition to Pb,

it seemed appropriate to analyze Cd and Hg as metals of priority concern within

the EU as well as Cu, Cr, Ni and Zn, which are metals showing an enhanced

anthropogenic distribution in the environment. For Hg we also included

feathers, as they are known as an important way of elimination of Hg in birds.

Moreover, we included Ag in the study, as nanoparticles of this metal start to

be widely in use in consumer products and therefore will be increasingly

included in waste streams, threatening also the aquatic environments (Yu et al., 2013).

Organisation(s)

Department of Inorganic Chemistry

External organisation(s)

University of Johannesburg (UJ)

Pages

599 - 600

Publication date

09-2016

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

104003 Inorganic chemistry, 104023 Environmental chemistry

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