Lead, Cadmium and Other Metals in Serum of Pet Dogs from an Urban Area of NW Poland

Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate the degree of exposure of pet dogs from an urban area of NW Poland to selected metals, including toxic Cd and Pb. The study was conducted on a group of 48 healthy dogs. The serum concentration of the analysed elements followed the order Fe > Al > Zn > Cu > Mn > As > Sr > Pb > Cd > Cr > Ni > V. The presence of cadmium and lead was found in all the serum samples tested. The average contents of these elements were 0.309 and 0.489 μg/mL. The factors that played the greatest role in the intake of the analysed elements were diet and breed-dependent size of dogs. Small-sized dogs had higher concentrations of all elements compared with large dogs, with statistically significant differences noted for Cu, Pb, Cd and Sr. It was also found that dogs receiving commercial and mixed food had more metals in serum compared with dogs on homemade food (except strontium). The present study showed elevated concentrations of some heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Fe and Cu) in serum of pet dogs, which is probably due to the excess elemental load of this area. Given that no information is available on the concentrations of strontium, vanadium and aluminium in dogs, further research is necessary to determine certain reference values which would allow for an easier interpretation of results and evaluation of exposure to these elements.

Pets as Sentinels of Indoor Contamination

“…The investigation of chemicals present in an indoor environment has allowed the identification of the main sources of pollutants and their bioavailability has been assessed by measuring chemical residues in tissues, organs, or fluids of animals living in appropriate habitats (López-Alonso et al 2007). In this perspective, the use of pets as bi-osentinels of contamination makes it possible to determine the degree of environmental contamination and the extent of human chemical exposure, since they share the same environment as their owners and are exposed, at least in part, to the same pollutants (López-Alonso et al 2007;Tomza-Marciniak et al 2012). For example, as cats meticulously groom themselves (Fig.…”

“…The concentrations of Pb and Cd were investigated in serum of 48 healthy pet dogs from an urban area of northwestern Poland (Tomza-Marciniak et al 2012). The mean concentrations of the analyzed metals were 0.49 and 0.31 μg/mL, respectively.…”

Domestic cat (Felis catus) as a bioindicator of environmental lead contamination / Kot domowy (Felis catus) jako bioindykator zanieczyszczenia środowiska ołowiem

“…It was revealed that the content of toxic heavy metals in animal hair is positively correlated with their level in the parenchymal organs such as liver, kidneys and skeletal muscles [Rashed, Soltan 2005, McLean et al 2009, Curi et al 2012. Pet carnivorous animals, sharing living conditions with humans, and in many cases also food, became a research object informing about the quality of environmental conditions in the human close surroundings [Kośla et al 2011b, 2013, Tomza-Marciniak et al 2012. For this reason, a domestic cat (Felis catus), the top predator of the trophic chain, became the object of interest of many research teams investigating the problem of the state of environment in the urban agglomeration.…”

“…In order to assess various land ecosystems, numerous species of wild and domestic animals were used. The biomonitoring of the forest environment was carried out on the basis of analysis of the tissues of species representing the Cervidae family as well as European bisons, foxes and wild boars [Skibniewski et al 2010, Pilarczyk et al 2010Tomza-Marciniak et al 2012]. In relation to the rural environment, farm animals were used .…”

>b<Determinação das concentrações de macro e micro minerais e metais pesados em alimentos caseiros para cães e gatos adultos>/b<

“…Sua absorção depende da ingestão de cálcio, ferro, fósforo e proteínas. A meia vida do chumbo na corrente sanguínea é de 37 dias, em tecidos de 40 dias e nos ossos de 27 anos (POLÁK et al, 1996;TOMZA-MARCINIAK et al, 2012).…”