Cadmium in caribou and muskoxen from the Canadian Yukon and Northwest Territories.
Cadmium, zinc, copper and metallothionein concentrations were measured in liver and kidney tissue of caribou and muskoxen collected from various sites in the Canadian Yukon and Northwest Territories. Cadmium concentrations in caribou tissues were substantially higher than in muskoxen for all age classes and were comparable to concentrations reported for caribou from northern Québec and Norway. No geographical site differences in cadmium concentration were observed. Cadmium concentrations were positively correlated with age for both caribou and muskoxen. The highest cadmium concentration observed (166 micrograms/g dry wt.) was in renal tissue of a 15-year-old caribou. Metal concentrations tended to be higher in spring than in fall for animals of comparable age. Renal cadmium concentrations were highly correlated with metallothionein concentrations, especially for cadmium concentrations exceeding 20 micrograms/g (dry wt.). It is estimated that the regular weekly consumption of kidney tissue from Arctic caribou of any age, and from muskoxen older than 1 year, will probably cause the WHO provisional weekly tolerable intake of cadmium to be exceeded.
Gamberg
M
M
Environment Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Research Centre, Hull, Québec.
Scheuhammer
A M
AM
D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D002104:Cadmium / Q000032:analysis*; D003300:Copper / Q000032:analysis; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D007668:Kidney / Q000737:chemistry; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry; D008668:Metallothionein / Q000032:analysis; D015873:Northwest Territories; D012053:Reindeer; D012418:Ruminants; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000032:analysis; D015874:Yukon Territory; D015032:Zinc / Q000032:analysis
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D014131:Trace Elements; D002104:Cadmium; D003300:Copper; D008668:Metallothionein; D015032:Zinc