Dip R, Stieger C, Deplazes P, Hegglin D, Müller U, Dafflon O, Koch H, Naegeli H
Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich-Tierspital, Switzerland.
Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 2001 May;40(4):551-6. doi: 10.1007/s002440010209.
The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is a representative of the canid family with wide distribution in the Northern Hemisphere and Australia. The increasing utilization of urbanized habitats by red foxes prompted us to test whether this species may be used to monitor the presence of anthropogenic pollutants in cities or suburbs. For that purpose, we compared the concentrations of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn) in foxes from urban, suburban, and rural areas within the municipality of Zürich (Switzerland). The kidney and liver of suburban and rural foxes contained the highest Cd concentrations, whereas urban foxes contained the highest Pb levels. In the kidney of suburban foxes, Cd concentrations increased from a median value of 0.73 mg/kg in juvenile animals to 1.82 mg/kg in adults. Similarly, the liver of suburban foxes contained increasing Cd levels from a median of 0.21 mg/kg in juvenile animals to 0.94 mg/kg in adults. An age-dependent storage of Cd was also found in foxes from the rural surroundings, but no such accumulation occurred in urban foxes from the city center, where even adult animals contained very low Cd levels. Conversely, foxes from the urban center were characterized by elevated Pb concentrations during the first 2 years of life, but this transient Pb accumulation was absent in suburban or rural animals. The liver of juvenile foxes contained a median Pb concentration of 0.99 mg/kg in the city compared to only 0.47 and 0.37 mg/kg in the suburban and rural area, respectively. Thus, we found that animals from separate environmental compartments contain different patterns of tissue residues, implying that red foxes may serve as a bioindicator species to detect certain toxic hazards in urbanized habitats.
赤狐（Vulpes vulpes）是犬科动物的代表，在北半球和澳大利亚广泛分布。赤狐对城市化栖息地的利用日益增加，这促使我们去测试该物种是否可用于监测城市或郊区人为污染物的存在。为此，我们比较了瑞士苏黎世市城区、郊区和农村地区狐狸体内重金属（镉、铅、铜、锌）的浓度。郊区和农村狐狸的肾脏和肝脏中镉浓度最高，而城市狐狸体内铅含量最高。在郊区狐狸的肾脏中，镉浓度从幼年动物的中位数0.73毫克/千克增加到成年动物的1.82毫克/千克。同样，郊区狐狸肝脏中的镉含量也从幼年动物的中位数0.21毫克/千克增加到成年动物的0.94毫克/千克。在农村环境中的狐狸体内也发现了镉的年龄依赖性蓄积，但在市中心的城市狐狸中未出现这种蓄积，即使是成年动物体内的镉含量也非常低。相反，市中心的狐狸在生命的前两年铅浓度升高，但郊区或农村动物没有这种短暂的铅蓄积现象。城市幼年狐狸肝脏中的铅中位数浓度为0.99毫克/千克，而郊区和农村地区分别仅为0.47毫克/千克和0.37毫克/千克。因此，我们发现来自不同环境区域的动物体内组织残留模式不同，这意味着赤狐可能作为一种生物指示物种来检测城市化栖息地中的某些有毒危害。
