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Mercury Concentrations in Common Tern Sterna hirundo and Slender-billed Gull Larus genei from the Shadegan Marshes of Iran, in North-western Corner of the Persian Gulf

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Abstract

We examined mercury levels in several tissues of Common Terns and Slender-billed Gulls collected from Shadegan Marshes of south-western Iran. In both species, total mercury content was highest in feathers followed by liver, kidney and muscle tissue. We found a significant correlation between mercury concentrations in kidney and breast feather (r = 0.83, p < 0.05), breast feather and liver (r = 0.81, p < 0.05) as well as liver and kidney (r = 0.83, p < 0.05). The contaminant levels in the feathers (11.53 and 15.32 μg/g in breast feather and tail feather, respectively) of Common Terns from Shadegan Marshes are higher than those reported for other tern species from elsewhere in the world, but feather mercury of Slender-billed Gull (6.61 and 5.35 μg/g in breast feather and tail feather, respectively) was similar to those reported for gull species worldwide. Mean values for mercury in the feather of two seabird species were higher than the levels known to cause adverse effects.

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Acknowledgments

Special thanks are due to Morteza Davodi, Mohamad mehdi Hoseyni, Alireza Nikvarz and Majid Zaboli for their field assistance. This work is supported by Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of Iran.

Ethical Standards

Animal studies have been approved by the appropriate ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. The manuscript does not contain clinical studies or patient data.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources and Earth Science, Shahrekord University, P.O. Box 115, Shahrekord, Iran

    Rasool Zamani-Ahmadmahmoodi

  2. South Pars Gas Field Development-Phase 19, Petropars Iran Company, Bushehr, Iran

    Mostafa Alahverdi

  3. Department of Environment, Faculty of Natural Resources and Earth Science, University of Kashan, Kashan, Iran

    Roohallah Mirzaei

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  1. Rasool Zamani-Ahmadmahmoodi
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  2. Mostafa Alahverdi
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Correspondence to Rasool Zamani-Ahmadmahmoodi.

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Zamani-Ahmadmahmoodi, R., Alahverdi, M. & Mirzaei, R. Mercury Concentrations in Common Tern Sterna hirundo and Slender-billed Gull Larus genei from the Shadegan Marshes of Iran, in North-western Corner of the Persian Gulf. Biol Trace Elem Res 159, 161–166 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-014-0006-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-014-0006-8

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