title: Assessment of trace elements concentrations in Western reef heron (Egretta gularis) from southern Iran.
abstract: The purpose of this article was to investigate the levels of metals, cadmium, lead, and zinc, in Western reef heron (Egretta gularis) (n = 15) in order to (1) examine the sex-related variation in trace metal accumulation and (2) determine the significant differences between the metal concentrations in the kidney, liver, and pectoral muscle. Bird samples were collected from throughout the Hara biosphere reserve of southern Iran, during November and December 2010 and the concentration of metals were measured using a Shimadzu AA 680 flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The overall cadmium, lead and zinc concentrations means were measured as 0.8 ± 0.1, 3.4 ± 1.1, and 29.4 ± 12.9 μg/g for kidney; 0.7 ± 0.1, 2.2 ± 0.5, and 65.9 ± 20.7 μg/g for liver; and 0.2 ± 0.1, 2.2 ± 0.7, and 17.6 ± 12.9 μg/g for pectoral muscle, respectively. The results showed that with the exception of cadmium in liver, there were no significant differences between males and females (t test, p > 0.05). In the contrast, the results indicated metal concentrations differed significantly in kidneys, livers, and pectoral muscles among tissues in Western reef heron (one-way analysis of variance, p < 0.001).
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Birjand University, Birjand, Islamic Republic of Iran ebrahimhoshiari@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ebrahim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hoshyari
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Birjand University, Birjand, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pourkhabbaz
authors.affiliation: Young Researchers Club, Kermanshah Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: Borhan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mansouri
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D007492:Iran; D007668:Kidney / Q000737:chemistry; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry; D008297:Male; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000737:chemistry; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D019216:Metals, Heavy