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Mercury, pets’ and hair: baseline survey of a priority environmental pollutant using a noninvasive matrix in man’s best friend

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Abstract

Pet cats and dogs have been successfully used as indicators of environmental pollution by a great variety of chemicals, including metals. However, information on mercury (a well know priority environmental pollutant) concentrations in household pets tissues and/or organs is scarce. Thus, in the present work we quantified total mercury (HgTotal) in blood and hair samples from twenty-six household dogs. The obtained results disclose relatively low levels of total mercury in the surveyed dogs, with values ranging from 0.16 to 12.38 ng g−1 in blood; and from 24.16 to 826.30 ng g−1 in hair. Mercury concentrations were independent of gender, age and diet type. A highly significant positive correlation was established between total mercury in blood and hair, validating the latter as a surrogate, non-invasive matrix for mercury exposure evaluation. Additionally, the obtained blood to hair ratio (200) is similar to the one described for humans reinforcing the suitability of dogs as sentinels. Overall, the determination of total mercury levels in dogs’ hair samples proved to be a good screening method for the estimation of mercury burden in this species. We propose the quantification of HgTotal in hair as a screening method for sentinels like household pets to be performed in routine veterinary visits.

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Acknowledgments

To Zeca and Dona Maria Pia, the pets that inspired this study. The authors would like to thank all the dog owners who authorized the collection of blood and hair samples from their pets. The staff of the veterinary clinics involved in this project is also acknowledged, particularly their Medical Directors: Sónia Miranda, DVM and Joana Tuna, DVM. This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) trough program COMPETE and the projects PEst-C/MAR/LA0017/2011 and PEst-C/SAU/UI0709/2011. A.C.A. Sousa also acknowledges FCT for the postdoctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/65884/2009).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Author notes

  1. Isa Sofia de Sá Teixeira

    Present address: Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Edifício C2, 2º Piso, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departmento de Biologia & CESAM, Campus Universitário Santiago, Universidade de Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Ana C. A. Sousa, Bruna Marques, Amadeu M. V. M. Soares, António J. A. Nogueira & Ana I. Lillebø

  2. CICS-UBI - Centro de Investigação em Ciências da Saúde, Universidade da Beira Interior, Av. Infante D. Henrique, 6200-506, Covilhã, Portugal

    Ana C. A. Sousa

  3. Departmento de Biologia, Campus Universitário de Santiago, Universidade de Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Isa Sofia de Sá Teixeira

  4. Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Escola Universitária Vasco da Gama, Estrada da Conraria, Mosteiro de São Jorge de Milreu, 3040-714, Castelo Viegas–Coimbra, Portugal

    Hugo Vilhena

  5. Hospital Veterinário do Baixo Vouga, EN 1, 355, 3750-742, Segadães–Águeda, Portugal

    Hugo Vilhena

  6. Departamento de Ciências Veterinárias UTAD, Hospital Veterinário da Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Quinta de Prados Apartado 1013, 5001-801, Vila Real, Portugal

    Lisete Vieira

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  1. Ana C. A. Sousa
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  2. Isa Sofia de Sá Teixeira
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  3. Bruna Marques
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Correspondence to Ana C. A. Sousa.

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Sousa, A.C.A., de Sá Teixeira, I.S., Marques, B. et al. Mercury, pets’ and hair: baseline survey of a priority environmental pollutant using a noninvasive matrix in man’s best friend. Ecotoxicology 22, 1435–1442 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-013-1130-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-013-1130-5

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