Heavy Metal Concentrations in Free-Living Southern Caracaras (Caracara plancus) in the Northeast Region of Brazil

Abstract

Background: With the continuously increasing release of heavy metals in the environment, mostly from anthropogenic sources, there is a need to find ways of evaluating and managing the issuance of these contaminants and correct its damages. The birds being at the top of some food chains reflect the presence of metals in the environment, keeping this in perspective, raptors have been successfully used for heavy metals biomonitoring studies in the past. The purpose of this study was to identify and quantify cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), and chromium (Cr) in the feathers and livers of free-living southern caracaras, live and dead, from Recife, Pernambuco state, Northeast of Brazil. Material, Methods & Results: Sixty-two feathers from live and dead southern caracaras and 21 livers from dead southern caracaras were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry for Hg and by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry for Cd, Cr, Pb, and Cu. Concentrations of Cr and Cu elements were detected in all feather and liver samples analyzed from live and dead caracaras. There was no difference in the concentration of metals between feathers of dead and live caracaras: Pb (P = 0.3576), Cd (P = 0.0792), Cr (P = 0.5475), and Cu (P = 0.3603), but significant variation was observed for Hg (P = 0.0459). The highest concentrations of Pb (P < 0.0001) and Cr (P < 0.0001) were found in the feathers than in the liver. On the other hand, the highest concentrations of Cu were found in liver samples (P = 0.0011). No significant variation in the concentrations of Cd (P = 0.7770) and Hg (P = 0.3669) was found between feathers and liver samples. Discussion: Chromium, as well as Hg, and Cu have a high affinity for keratin, which may explain the higher concentrations of Cr in caracaras feathers in this research. Lead was detected in all liver samples analyzed. Elevated levels were also found in the feathers of dead (95.2%) and live (75.6%) caracaras. The presence of Pb may be due to external contamination by pollutants, such as fossil fuels. Higher concentrations of Hg were observed in dead caracaras feathers, this concentrations change during molting but are not affected by external contamination. Metals, such as Hg, and Cd, accumulate in organisms from different trophic levels, which may indicate that this contamination comes mainly from feed. Pearson's coefficient here showed no correlation between metals from dead caracaras feathers and livers, although a few previous studies have shown a correlation between metal concentrations from tissues and feathers. This pattern can be attributed to the different time of exposure of feathers to metals in relation to livers. The concentrations of metals in hepatic tissues reflect the levels of elements in the diet of these birds, characterizing acutely the contamination of the ecosystem. On the other hand, feathers represent the exposure in the time of molting, when the artery supplies metals, thus representing a chronic exposure. In feathers from live birds, the ...

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“…No entanto, a caça esportiva também ocorre, embora seja proibida no país pela Lei n o 5.197 [3]. O impacto determinado pelo uso de armas de ar comprimido ou armas de fogo ultrapassam a morte ou mutilação de animais, porque causam também a contaminação do meio ambiente pelo chumbo dos projéteis, consistindo em um grande problema para vários países, inclusive o Brasil [5,12,13,21,22].…”

Accumulation of chromium, cadmium and arsenic in white-tailed sea-eagle feathers (Aves: Haliaeetus albicilla) from the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve and surrounding areas (Romania)

“…The feather samples were washed with bidistiled water and acetone to remove the external contamination. (Esins et al, 2014, Rapôso da Silva et al, 2017. After the pre-treatment stage, the feathers were dried in the oven at 60 °C, for 48 h, brought to constant mass and cut into small 1 mm pieces in order to expose as much of the edge as possible to the extraction process (Rapôso da Silva et al, 2017).…”

“…(Esins et al, 2014, Rapôso da Silva et al, 2017. After the pre-treatment stage, the feathers were dried in the oven at 60 °C, for 48 h, brought to constant mass and cut into small 1 mm pieces in order to expose as much of the edge as possible to the extraction process (Rapôso da Silva et al, 2017). The metals are extracted using 5 mL of HNO3 and 2 mL of H2O2.…”

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