MALLARDS (Anas platyrhynchos) - A RISK TO HUMAN HEALTH FROM EXPOSURE TO LEAD SHOTS CONTAMINATING THE ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

Summary: The problem around bodies of water used for waterfowl hunting is elevated lead contamination. The aim of the study was to determine which bodily tissues of mallards suffer the most from lead contamination, and whether such contamination can lead to the exceeding of the maximum allowable lead concentrations in meat and giblets set by the EU for poultry. Two groups of hunted mallards were used in the study. One group consisted of ten hunted mallards that spent a part of their life on a pond (experimental group, E). The other group was made up of ten mallards raised without access to a body of water (control group, C). Lead concentrations were determined by high resolution continuum source atomic absorption spectrometry. In experimental group, considerably higher average lead concentrations (mean±SD; mg/kg) were found in breast muscle (E=0.253±0.205; K=0.077±0.031), heart (E=0.272±0.307; K=0.096±0.042), lungs (E=2.721±3.950; K=0.205±0.048), liver (E=7.669±14.048; K=0.287±0.124) and kidneys (E=24.944±30.377; K=0.407±0.106). Significant differences (P<0.05) between E and C group were found in breast and heart muscle, as well as in lung and kidney tissue. A comparison between average lead concentrations in experimental group and maximum lead concentration limits in poultry meat and giblets set forth by the EU showed that the maximum concentration limits were statistically significantly exceeded in the case of breast muscle (P<0.043) and kidneys (P<0.032). It follows from the results that mallards bagged on a pond contaminated with lead from shotgun pellets can pose a risk to human health.