Examination of mercury concentration in the feathers of 18 species of birds in southwest Iran

This paper presents the levels of mercury (Hg) in tail feathers from different species of birds, in southwest Iran (Khuzestan to Persian Gulf). Between April and October 2005, we collected tail feathers from 77 birds belonging to 18 species, mostly raptor birds. The birds were collected for the Muse...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental research 2007-06, Vol.104 (2), p.258-265
Main Authors: Zolfaghari, Ghasem, Esmaili-Sari, Abbas, Ghasempouri, Seyed Mahmoud, Kiabi, Bahram Hassanzade
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Applied ecology
Aves
Biological and medical sciences
Birds - metabolism
Coraciidae
Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution
Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Environmental Pollutants - analysis
Environmental Pollutants - pharmacokinetics
Falconidae
Feather
Feathers - chemistry
Feathers - metabolism
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Iran
Mercury
Mercury - analysis
Mercury - pharmacokinetics
Meropidae
Phasianidae
Raptor birds
Risk Assessment
Species Specificity
Strigidae
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Summary:This paper presents the levels of mercury (Hg) in tail feathers from different species of birds, in southwest Iran (Khuzestan to Persian Gulf). Between April and October 2005, we collected tail feathers from 77 birds belonging to 18 species, mostly raptor birds. The birds were collected for the Museum Natural History, Faculty of Natural Resources and Marine Sciences of Tarbiat Modares University. Hg concentrations were evaluated in relation to taxonomic affiliation and trophic level. Feather Hg concentrations ranged from 0.09 to 2.01 mg/kg dry wt. We found a significant difference in feather Hg concentrations across taxonomic groups ( p
ISSN:0013-9351
1096-0953
DOI:10.1016/j.envres.2006.12.002