Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ, UK.
Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, GL2 7BT, UK.
Ambio. 2019 Sep;48(9):935-953. doi: 10.1007/s13280-019-01159-0. Epub 2019 Mar 16.
Poisoning of wild birds following ingestion of lead from ammunition has long been recognised and considerable recent research has focused on terrestrial birds, including raptors and scavengers. This paper builds upon previous reviews and finds that both the number of taxa affected and geographical spread of cases has increased. Some lead may also be absorbed from embedded ammunition fragments in injured birds which risk sub-lethal and welfare effects. Some papers suggest inter-specific differences in sensitivity to lead, although it is difficult to disentangle these from other factors that influence effect severity. Sub-lethal effects have been found at lower blood lead concentrations than previously reported, suggesting that previous effect-level 'thresholds' should be abandoned or revised. Lead poisoning is estimated to kill a million wildfowl a year in Europe and cause sub-lethal poisoning in another ≥ 3 million. Modelling and correlative studies have supported the potential for population-level effects of lead poisoning in wildfowl, terrestrial birds, raptors and scavengers.
鸟类误食弹药中的铅而中毒的现象由来已久，近年来，大量研究聚焦于陆生鸟类，包括猛禽和食腐动物。本文在前人综述的基础上发现，受影响的分类单元数量和案例的地理分布都有所增加。受伤鸟类体内嵌入的弹药碎片也可能会吸收一些铅，这会对它们造成亚致死和福利影响。一些论文表明，不同物种对铅的敏感性存在差异，但很难将这些差异与其他影响严重程度的因素区分开来。研究发现，血液中铅浓度低于此前报道的水平时，就会出现亚致死效应，这表明此前的效应水平“阈值”应该被放弃或修改。据估计，欧洲每年有 100 万野生水禽因铅中毒而死亡，另有≥300 万野生水禽因铅中毒而受到亚致死影响。建模和相关研究支持了铅中毒对野生水禽、陆生鸟类、猛禽和食腐动物产生种群水平效应的可能性。
