چكيده انگليسي :
Nowadays, concern regarding the negative long-term effects of heavy metals as environmental pollutants is increasing. Biomonitoring can be a desirable and satisfactory method for measuring heavy metals concentration and their bioavailability. Among different species suitable for biomonitoring, birds are one of the best options as they are not only on the top levels of the food chain but also have noticeable sensitivity to toxic materials, therefor they would be a great indicator of the level of heavy metal’s presence in the environment. Researches have shown that majority of heavy metals consumed by a bird gets stored in their liver and feathers. As feather can be sampled in an easy and non-invasive way, in the current research the potential of feathers for monitoring of heavy metals was investigated. Feather naturally dispatched and fallen from the tails of 45 different birds including Eurasian Griffon Vulture, Golden Eagle, Eurasian Eagle Owl, Common Kestrel, Marabou Stork, Demoiselle Crane, Red-billed Chough, Black Swan, Whooper Swan, Greater Flamingo, Wild Turkey, Indian Peafowl, Common Ostrich, Cockatiel and White Cockatoo from 15 different species currently residing in the Bird Garden of Isfahan City were analyzed in the current research. In the next step, the samples were first dried in an oven, grinded and then digested with acid and then the elements (Ag, Al, As, Ba, Ca, Cd, C o, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Si, Zn) were analyzed using ICP-MS. In addition, foods of the birds were sampled and analyzed for presence of heavy metals to be used as a point of reference. Among the elements, Zn in Gyps fulvous (289.28 mg/kg), Fe in Falco tinnunculus (489 mg/kg) and Cu in Cygnus cygnus (18.41 mg/kg) were the 3 highest presences. All the mentioned elements showed the values higher than the health critical limits for the bird species. Majority of the element concentrations in the birds’ feather having various diests showed significant difference (p<0.05). In contarst, weight of the birds and their dependence on the water had no significant effect on metals accumulation. Finally, Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), Red-billed Chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), Marabou Stork (Leptoptilos crumeniferus), Common Ostrich (Struthio camelusand) and Cockatiel (nymphicus hollandicus) were introduced as potential species for biomonitoring of heavy metals.
