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. 2019 Jan 10:647:639-644.
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.043. Epub 2018 Aug 4.

Lead exposure biomarkers in the Common Loon

Aaron J Specht  1 , Kimberley E Kirchner  2 , Marc G Weisskopf  3 , Mark A Pokras  4
Affiliations

Lead exposure biomarkers in the Common Loon

Aaron J Specht et al. Sci Total Environ. .

Abstract

Lead in fishing tackle is a significant source of exposure to the environment, wildlife, and potentially humans. Common Loons (Gavia immer) are exposed to lead by eating fish which have lead tackle, or ingesting fishing weights or spent ammunition when they ingest small stones to aid in digestion. Blood lead is traditionally used as a biomarker of exposure in loons, but it only reflects recent exposures. Cumulative exposure measured via bone lead may better reflect the overall health of loons and their aquatic habitat. This study compared a portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) device for measurement of bone lead with and without tissue overlying the bone on loon cadavers with measurements made by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) of different tissues from the loons. For this study we had 75 bone samples, 19 body fluid samples, and 17 liver lead samples. We found significant correlations between portable XRF bone lead measurements made with overlying tissue and ICP-MS measures of bone lead (R = 0.88), body fluid lead (R = 0.65), and liver lead (R = 0.71). Bone lead was found to be higher in loons collected from non-coastal regions. In assessing lead-related cause of death, bone lead proved more predictive than liver lead. Future studies should investigate the value of these biomarkers for both aquatic health and loon health to further validate our findings.

Keywords: Aquatic health; Avian; Environmental monitoring; Lead; Loon; Metals.

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Conflict of interest statement

6. Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest with this work.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Correlation between portable XRF bone lead with tissue and ICP-MS bone lead concentrations.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Correlation between portable XRF bone lead without tissue and ICP-MS bone lead concentrations.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Correlation between the portable XRF measurements with and without tissue.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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