title: Trace element concentrations in feathers of five Anseriformes in the south of the Caspian Sea, Iran.
abstract: Birds are susceptible to environmental changes, which make them particularly important as indicators of environmental contamination, including metal concentrations. In the present study, the concentrations of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) in the tail and flight feathers of greylag goose, mallard, pintail, pochard, and wigeon were investigated from the south of the Caspian Sea in Iran by the electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ET-AAS) method. The trend of metal concentrations in both types of feathers of all the examined species was as follows: Fe < Zn < Mn < Cd ∼ Cr ∼ Ni ∼ Pb < As. The interspecies variation in concentrations of almost all the studied metals was observed, as well as the significant differences between feather types. The only exception was Ni, the medians of which were comparable in tail and primaries. Correlations of concentrations of Cd, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn in primaries and tail feathers were positive and statistically significant. Elevated concentrations of Cd, Cr, Mn, and Pb were noted so the possibility of environmental contamination of the area is suspected.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Natural Resources, Malayer University, Malayer, Iran. mohammad.sinkakarimi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mohammad-Hosein Sinka
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Karimi
authors.affiliation: Department of Environment, Provincial Directorate of Environment Protection, Golestan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hassanpour
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Natural Resources, Birjand University, Birjand, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali-Reza
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Pourkhabbaz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Pedagogical University of Cracow, Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Martyna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Błaszczyk
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Pedagogical University of Cracow, Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paluch
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Pedagogical University of Cracow, Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Łukasz J
authors.initials: ŁJ
authors.lastname: Binkowski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D046090:Anseriformes / Q000378:metabolism*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005241:Feathers / Q000737:chemistry*; D007492:Iran; D008670:Metals / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D014131:Trace Elements
keywords: Anseriformes; Biomonitoring; Caspian Sea; Feather; Metal