title: Blood lead concentrations of waterfowl from unhunted and heavily hunted marshes of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, Canada.
abstract: Blood lead concentrations of juvenile American black ducks (Anas rubripes) sampled in unhunted sanctuaries of Nova Scotia (NS) and Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada, usually were < 30 parts per billion (ppb). Based on gizzard content analyses of juvenile American black ducks from hunted areas, eight (24%) of 33 flightless birds contained ingested lead shot. Blood lead concentrations were > or = 100 ppb in seven of eight juveniles with ingested shot; thus we adopted blood lead concentrations 100 ppb as our threshold indicating exposure to non-background lead. The proportion of both American black ducks and ring-necked ducks (Aythya collaris) with elevated blood lead concentrations (> 100 ppb) exceeded 5% in hunted areas sampled in NS and PEI combined. The Canadian Wildlife Service draft policy is to consider replacing lead shot with non-toxic shot for waterfowl and snipe hunting if 5% of American black ducks exceed a blood lead concentration of 200 ppb. American black ducks significantly (P < 0.05) exceeded this threshold but ring-necked ducks did not. The source of lead in hunted areas may have been lead shot; we recommend that it be eliminated and replaced by an acceptable non-toxic shot for waterfowl hunting. Twenty four (96%) of 25 of American black ducks overwintering in Sullivans Pond, Dartmouth, NS, contained elevated (> 100 ppb) blood lead concentrations and 19 (76%) had detrimental concentrations (> 200 ppb). We believe that the source of lead at Sullivans Pond was automobile emissions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Daury
authors.forename: F E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Schwab
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Bateman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D004372:Ducks / Q000097:blood*; D005618:Fresh Water; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood*; D009674:Nova Scotia; D011325:Prince Edward Island; D012621:Seasons
chemical_list: D007854:Lead