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Concentration of 12 Metals and Metalloids in the Blood of White Stork (Ciconia ciconia): Basal Values and Influence of Age and Gender

Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology volume 73, pages 522–532 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

The white stork (Ciconia ciconia) is being increasingly used in biomonitoring programmes of environmental contaminants due to its growing population in Europe; however, studies on inorganic elements are scarce. The blood of 70 white storks was collected and analysed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) to determine the presence of the following elements: lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), nickel (Ni), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), selenium (Se), manganese (Mn), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), and cadmium (Cd). Our main goals were to determine the mean concentrations of these elements in the blood and to study its association with age and gender. Mean concentrations were highest for Fe, followed by Zn, and lowest for Co and Cd. The metal levels were similar to the values referred in the literature for the same species from different locations. No statistically significant differences were found between males and females. Regarding age, statistically significant differences were observed for Ni, Cu, Se, Hg, and Pb between young and adult animals (except for Pb, values in adults were higher than in fledglings). Many element concentrations were correlated, with the strongest correlations between the pairs Hg–Se, Hg–As, and Fe–Zn, mainly in adults. This study provides the baseline data for a monitoring program based on white stork blood as a nondestructive sample.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Jose Luis Rodríguez from the Laboratory of Genetics of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Extremadura (Caceres, Spain), for the assistance in gender determination, and to the staff of the “Los Hornos” Wildlife Recovery Centre (Junta de Extremadura, Caceres, Spain) for the management and sampling of blood. This research was partially supported by the Consejería de Economía e Infraestructuras of the Junta de Extremadura (Ayuda GR15114, Spain) and by FEDER Funds through the Programa Operativo FEDER (2014–2020) of Extremadura.

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  1. Ana Raquel Maia

    Present address: Consultório Veterinário Maia, Rua Almeida Garrett 2, 2330-055, Entroncamento, Portugal

Affiliations

  1. Toxicology Area, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Extremadura (UEX), 10003, Cáceres, Spain

    Ana Raquel Maia, Francisco Soler-Rodriguez & Marcos Pérez-López

  2. IProCar Research Institute, University of Extremadura (UEX), 10003, Cáceres, Spain

    Francisco Soler-Rodriguez

  3. INBIO G + C Research Institute, University of Extremadura (UEX), 10003, Cáceres, Spain

    Marcos Pérez-López

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  1. Ana Raquel Maia
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Correspondence to Ana Raquel Maia.

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Maia, A.R., Soler-Rodriguez, F. & Pérez-López, M. Concentration of 12 Metals and Metalloids in the Blood of White Stork (Ciconia ciconia): Basal Values and Influence of Age and Gender. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 73, 522–532 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-017-0431-8

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