Heavy metals accumulation in pelagic seabirds, and their variations with species and habitats

KATSUHISA HONDA; JORGE MARCOVECCHIO; SHINYA KAN; RYO TATSUKAWA; HARUO OGI

ARCHIVES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION AND TOXICOLOGY

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 1990 vol. 19 p. 704 - 712

0090-4341

Concentrations of four essential elements (Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu) and two toxic metals (Cd and Hg) were measured in selected tissues of 19 pelagic seabird species collected in the North Pacific and neighboring waters. Essentialmetal concentrations were generally highest in the liver and less variable than toxic rnetals among species and also within each species. Fe concentrations in the muscle were higher in AJcidae than in the other families, whereas the opposite trend was found for Fe and Mn in the liver. Zn concentrations varied among species, depending on the Cd concentrations. On the other hand, toxic metal concentrations were highest in the liver or kidney and varied widelyamong species, greatly depending on differences in the diet among species. Extraordinarily high Hg concentrations were found in Black-footed Albatrosses, Diomedea nigripes, excceding 300 μ.g.lg wet weight in sorne, and seemed to be due to constraints on tbe elirnination of Hg. Also, some geographical differences in Cd and Hg concentrations of the seabirds were observed. The concentrations of Cd and Hg reported here, however, seem to be natural ratherthan due to environmental pollution.