title: Mercury concentrations in eggshells of the Southern Ground-Hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri) and Wattled Crane (Bugeranus carunculatus) in South Africa.
abstract: In this study, wild hatched eggshells were collected from the nests of threatened Wattled Crane and South Ground-Hornbill in an attempt to determine their total Hg concentrations. A total of fourteen eggshell samples from both bird species were collected from different study areas in the Mpumlanga and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces of South Africa. The eggshells were acid digested under reflux and their total Hg concentrations were determined using cold-vapour atomic absorption spectrophotometry (CV-AAS). The observed total Hg levels for the South Ground-Hornbill samples ranged from 1.31 to 8.88 µg g(-1) dry weight (dw), except for one outlier which had an elevated 75.0 µg g(-1) dw. The levels obtained for the Wattled Crane samples were relatively high and these ranged from 14.84 to 36.37 µg g(-1) dw. Generally, all the measured total Hg concentrations for the Wattled Crane samples exceeded the estimated total Hg levels derived for eggshell which were known to cause adverse reproductive effects in avian species from previous studies. Based on these findings, it is, therefore, possible that the exposure of these birds to elevated Hg may have contributed to their present population decline.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028, Pretoria, South Africa. Electronic address: adegbenrop@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Adegbenro P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Daso
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental, Water and Earth Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, 175 Nelson Mandela Drive, Private Bag X680, Arcadia, Pretoria, South Africa.
authors.forename: Jonathan O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Okonkwo
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental, Water and Earth Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, 175 Nelson Mandela Drive, Private Bag X680, Arcadia, Pretoria, South Africa.
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental, Water and Earth Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, 175 Nelson Mandela Drive, Private Bag X680, Arcadia, Pretoria, South Africa.
authors.forename: José D D O
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Brandao
authors.affiliation: National Zoological Gardens of South Africa, P.O. Box 754, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.
authors.forename: Antoinette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kotzé
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D004528:Egg Shell / Q000737:chemistry*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D011157:Population Dynamics; D013019:South Africa; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Eggshells; Reproduction; Southern Ground-Hornbill; Total mercury; Wattled Crane