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Essential and Nonessential Elements in Nestling Rooks Corvus frugilegus from Eastern Poland with a Special Emphasis on Their High Cadmium Contamination

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Abstract

Concentration of minerals (sodium, potassium, calcium [Ca], magnesium, iron [Fe], copper, zinc [Zn], manganese [Mn], and cobalt) as well as toxic metals (cadmium [Cd], lead [Pb]) were determined in five tissues (liver, lung, kidney, muscle, and bone) of nestling rooks (Corvus frugilegus; 1 to 13 days old) found dead in seven breeding colonies in eastern Poland. Cd concentration in all analyzed tissues was in the narrow range of 17.0–17.2 mg/kg dry weight (dw) Cd, which in the light of the literature data indicates acute contamination by this toxic metal. Similarly, we found increased levels of Pb, which in all tissues ranged between 5.0 and 6.2 mg/kg dw. Results of multivariate general linear model (GLM) testing of the effect of three variables (tissue type, colony, and nestling age) on tissue concentrations of various metals showed significance for Fe, Cu, Zn, and Mn. Only concentrations of Ca, Fe, and Zn differed significantly between the analyzed tissues. GLM analysis did not show any statistically significant differences in tissue levels of minerals and both toxic metals among examined rookeries, which indicates the widespread presence of nonpoint Cd and Pb pollution linked to agricultural activity and similar levels of these inorganic contaminants on crop fields (feeding grounds) around breeding colonies. We concluded that high levels of both toxic metals, Cd and Pb, probably resulting from the diet of nestling rooks, are based mainly on a diet of ground-dwelling beetles gathered on crop fields.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to anonymous reviewers for constructive remarks and comments, which greatly improved the value of this manuscript. Responsibility for any errors, including chemical analyses, resides solely with the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Agricultural and Forest Environment, Polish Academy of Sciences, 60-809, Poznan, Poland

    Grzegorz Orłowski

  2. Department of Ecology and Environmental Protection, Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Nicolaus Copernicus University, 85-094, Bydgoszcz, Poland

    Piotr Kamiński & Beata Koim-Puchowska

  3. Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Institute of Biotechnology and Environment Protection, University of Zielona Góra, 65-516, Zielona Gora, Poland

    Piotr Kamiński

  4. Department of Ecology and Nature Protection, University of Podlasie, 08-110, Siedlce, Poland

    Zbigniew Kasprzykowski

  5. Natural Museum, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Zielona Góra, 65-516, Zielona Gora, Poland

    Zbigniew Zawada

  6. Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Collegium Medicum in ydgoszcz, Nicolaus Copernicus University, 85-094, Bydgoszcz, Poland

    Małgorzata Szady-Grad & Jacek J. Klawe

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  1. Grzegorz Orłowski
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  2. Piotr Kamiński
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Orłowski, G., Kamiński, P., Kasprzykowski, Z. et al. Essential and Nonessential Elements in Nestling Rooks Corvus frugilegus from Eastern Poland with a Special Emphasis on Their High Cadmium Contamination. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 63, 601–611 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-012-9794-z

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