Division of Life Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA.
J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2010;73(1):33-40. doi: 10.1080/15287390903248877.
Using blood as a method of assessing metal levels in turtles may be useful for populations that are threatened or endangered or are decreasing. In this study the levels of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and selenium (Se) in blood of four species of turtles from the tributaries of the Rio Negro in the Amazon of Brazil were examined. The turtles included the six-tubercled Amazon (river) turtle (Podocnemis sextuberculata), red-headed Amazon (river) turtle (Podocnemis erythrocephala), big-headed Amazon (river) turtle (Peltocephalus dumerilianus), and matamata turtle (Chelus fimbriatus). Blood samples were taken from the vein in the left hind leg of each turtle. There were significant interspecific differences in the sizes of the turtles from the Rio Negro, and in concentrations of Pb, Hg, and Se; the smallest species (red-headed turtles) had the highest levels of Pb in their blood, while Se levels were highest in big-headed turtles and lowest in red-headed turtles. Hg in blood was highest in matamata, intermediate in big-headed, and lowest in the other two turtles. Even though females were significantly larger than males, there were no significant differences in metal levels as a function of gender, and the only relationship of metals to size was for Cd. Variations in metal levels among species suggest that blood may be a useful bioindicator. Metal levels were not high enough to pose a health risk to the turtles or to consumers, such as humans.
利用血液来评估海龟体内金属水平可能对受到威胁、濒危或数量减少的种群有用。本研究检测了来自巴西亚马逊河内罗格罗托河支流的四种海龟血液中的砷（As）、镉（Cd）、铬（Cr）、铅（Pb）、汞（Hg）和硒（Se）水平。这些海龟包括六瘤棱皮龟（Podocnemis sextuberculata）、红头棱皮龟（Podocnemis erythrocephala）、大头棱皮龟（Peltocephalus dumerilianus）和玳瑁龟（Chelus fimbriatus）。从每只海龟左腿的静脉中抽取血液样本。来自内罗格罗托河的海龟个体大小存在显著的种间差异，而且 Pb、Hg 和 Se 的浓度也存在显著差异；体型最小的物种（红头龟）血液中 Pb 含量最高，而 Se 含量在大头龟中最高，在红头龟中最低。Hg 在血液中的含量在玳瑁龟中最高，在大头龟中居中，在其他两种龟中最低。尽管雌性比雄性大很多，但金属水平与性别无关，而且金属与体型唯一的关系是 Cd。不同物种之间金属水平的差异表明，血液可能是一种有用的生物指标。金属水平还没有高到对海龟或消费者（如人类）构成健康风险。
