ERICo Velenje, Ecological Research and Industrial Cooperation, Koroška 58, SI-3320 Velenje, Slovenia.
Sci Total Environ. 2010 Dec 15;409(2):430-8. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.10.012. Epub 2010 Nov 20.
Roe deer antlers/mandibles are a useful tool for determination of ambient fluoride pollution. Antlers have a well-defined annual cycle of growth, therefore they represent a natural standardisation of samples during winter months. On the contrary, mandibles accumulate fluorides during the whole life of an organism, thus they reflect aggregated effect of fluoride pollution trough the life-span of an organism. Both tissues are easily available; mandibles are often systematically collected with the purpose of cognitive management and control, and antlers could be gathered from private well-dated hunters' collections. Considering these benefits, fluoride contents were measured in 141 antlers (period 1960-2007) and 220 mandibles (period 1997-2009) of roe deer, shot in the vicinity of the largest Slovene Thermal Power Plant of Šoštanj (ŠTPP) as one of the major sources of fluorides in Slovenia. Fluoride contents in antlers significantly differed among age categories, and ranged from 110 to 1210 mg/kg in yearlings, 130 to 2340 mg/kg in young adults, and 250 to 2590 mg/kg in older adults, respectively. Fluoride levels in mandibles were also significantly different among age categories, and ranged from 30.0 to 227 mg/kg in fawns, 33.8 to 383 mg/kg in yearlings, and 61.5 to 1020 mg/kg in adults, respectively. Comparison of these results with previously reported fluoride contents in antlers and mandibles of roe deer from different areas of Europe revealed that the study area has never been extensively contaminated with fluorides. Moreover, trends of fluoride contents in both tissues confirmed a significant decrease of fluoride pollution in the area after the years 1995 and 2000, when flue-gas cleaning devices were constructed on the ŠTPP. Indeed, highly positive correlations between annual emissions from the ŠTPP and mean annual fluoride contents in antlers/mandibles confirmed that both tissues may be a useful tool for assessing temporal trends in ambient fluoride pollution.
马鹿鹿角/下颚是测定环境氟污染的有用工具。鹿角的生长具有明确的年度周期，因此它们在冬季月份代表了样本的自然标准化。相比之下，下颚在生物体的整个生命周期中积累氟化物，因此它们反映了氟污染在生物体寿命期间的累积效应。这两种组织都很容易获得；下颚通常是为了认知管理和控制而有系统地收集的，而鹿角可以从私人有日期的猎人收集物中收集。考虑到这些好处，在斯洛文尼亚最大的Šoštanj 火力发电厂（ŠTPP）附近被枪杀的 141 个马鹿鹿角（1960-2007 年期间）和 220 个下颚（1997-2009 年期间）中测量了氟化物含量，ŠTPP 是斯洛文尼亚氟化物的主要来源之一。鹿角中的氟含量在年龄类别之间有显著差异，从幼鹿的 110 到 1210 毫克/公斤，青年鹿的 130 到 2340 毫克/公斤，成年鹿的 250 到 2590 毫克/公斤不等。下颚中的氟水平在年龄类别之间也有显著差异，从幼鹿的 30.0 到 227 毫克/公斤，幼鹿的 33.8 到 383 毫克/公斤，成年鹿的 61.5 到 1020 毫克/公斤不等。将这些结果与以前报道的来自欧洲不同地区的马鹿鹿角和下颚中的氟化物含量进行比较表明，研究区域从未受到广泛的氟污染。此外，两种组织中的氟化物含量趋势证实，自 1995 年和 2000 年在ŠTPP 上建造了烟气净化装置以来，该地区的氟污染显著减少。实际上，ŠTPP 的年排放量与鹿角/下颚中平均年氟化物含量之间的高度正相关证实，这两种组织都可能是评估环境氟污染时间趋势的有用工具。
