Toxicology and Risk Assessment Group, Department of Health Sciences, IMIB-Arrixaca, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100, Murcia, Spain; Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
Department of Zoology and Physical Anthropology, Faculty of Biology, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain; Grupo de Anillamiento ANSE, Murcia, Spain.
Environ Pollut. 2020 Jul;262:114334. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114334. Epub 2020 Mar 5.
Toxic metals have been widely reported in avian tissues due to their well-known accumulation capacity and adverse effects. However, rare earth elements (REE) and other minor elements (ME) are becoming a new threat due to their use in modern technology. Presently, exposure data are limited and no studies have been reported in wildlife. The order Caprimulgiformes is among the most understudied groups of birds lacking blood ecotoxicological data. One major constraint is the small blood sample volume that can be collected to ensure animal welfare, which limits analyses. In order to shed light on these collective issues, we sampled 48 red-necked nightjars (Caprimulgus ruficollis) inhabiting three different scenarios of contaminant exposure (agricultural-urban area, n = 15; mining area, n = 17; and control area, n = 16) in southeastern Spain, and report for the first time concentrations of 50 elements (i.e. trace elements, ATSDR's list toxic elements, REE and ME) using a recently developed technique able to analyze them by ICP-MS in very small volumes of blood (130 μL). Concentrations of As, Cd, Pb and Mn were significantly higher in individuals captured at the mining area compared to the other sites. Lead levels in the mine site were of particular concern since it was in the range of blood concentrations related to subclinical/clinical effects in other species, and in our study were associated with decreased hematocrit values (up to 44% hematocrit depression at blood concentrations >1000 ng/ml w.w.). Moreover, additive effects related to metal cocktail exposure in the mining area could be expected. Age and gender-related differences in blood concentrations were found for some elements. Even though most REE and ME concentrations were close to the LOQ, some of these emerging contaminants may trigger sublethal effects that, together with the ATSDR's list toxic elements, need to be carefully evaluated in a future study.
有毒金属由于其众所周知的积累能力和不良影响，已在禽类组织中广泛报道。然而，由于在现代技术中的应用，稀土元素（REE）和其他微量元素（ME）正成为新的威胁。目前，暴露数据有限，野生动物中尚无相关研究报告。佛法僧目是鸟类中研究最少的群体之一，缺乏血液毒理学数据。一个主要的限制是可以采集的血液样本量很小，以确保动物福利，这限制了分析。为了阐明这些集体问题，我们对 48 只红颈夜鹰（Caprimulgus ruficollis）进行了采样，这些夜鹰分别栖息在西班牙东南部三个不同的污染物暴露场景中（农业-城区，n=15；矿区，n=17；和对照区，n=16），并首次报告了 50 种元素（即微量元素、ATSDR 的有毒元素清单、REE 和 ME）的浓度，该报告使用了一种最近开发的技术，能够在非常小的血液体积（130 μL）中通过 ICP-MS 对其进行分析。与其他地点相比，在矿区捕获的个体中，砷、镉、铅和锰的浓度明显更高。矿区的铅含量尤其令人担忧，因为它处于与其他物种的亚临床/临床效应相关的血液浓度范围内，在我们的研究中，它与红细胞压积值下降（在血液浓度>1000ng/ml w.w.时，红细胞压积值下降高达 44%）有关。此外，在矿区可能会出现与金属鸡尾酒暴露相关的累加效应。研究发现，一些元素的血液浓度与年龄和性别有关。尽管大多数 REE 和 ME 浓度接近 LOQ，但这些新兴污染物中的一些可能会引发亚致死效应，与 ATSDR 的有毒元素清单一起，需要在未来的研究中仔细评估。
