Comparative tissue distribution of heavy metals in house sparrow (Passer domesticus, Aves) in polluted and reference sites in Turkey

Abstract

Bioindicators are useful for environmental monitoring in ecosystems with pollution loads. We compared concentrations of selected 10 metals in 42 samples of House Sparrow in a polluted by thermal power plant and reference sites. We found mean tissue concentrations of some metals to be significantly higher in sparrows from the polluted area when compared to tissues from the reference site. In liver mean concentrations of Cu (35.85 ± 17.22 mg kg(-1)) and Zn (101.76 ± 26.38 mg kg(-1)) were significantly higher and concentration of Ni (0.43 ± 0.49 mg kg(-1)) were significantly lower in sparrows from the polluted area (p<0.05). The concentration of Cu was significantly higher in muscle and liver at the polluted site. Gender did not seem to influence residue levels, of the elements studied, among sparrows with the exception of kidney cobalt concentrations; which were higher in female sparrows than in males (p<0.05, t=-2.409).