THE FIRST DATA ON MICROMINERAL MODES OF ELEMENTS IN THE HAIR OF MAMMALS IN PRIMORSKY KRAI

Abstract

The relevance of the work lies in the need to comprehend the variability of the chemical composition of mammalian organisms depending on the geological and geochemical environmental factors in their habitats under normal functioning conditions and in the presence of pathological processes. The performed studies bring new knowledge to the understanding of the processes of migration of a wide range of chemical elements from rocks into living organisms. As part of the implementation of the RSF grant the authors have studied the hair cover of red deer (Cervus elaphus) and wild boar (Sus scrofa), caught in the Terney district of Primorsky Krai, on the territory adjacent to the Sikhote-Alin State Biosphere Reserve; as well as the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus ) from a private farmstead in the village of Terney. In some areas of the reserve, the phenomenon of geophagy among wild ungulates is developed which results in the formation of characteristic landscape complexes – kudur. In recent years, rare earth elements are increasingly considered as the cause of geophagy: moreover, both their deficiency in the body and their excess are possible. As a consequence, animals may need to either replenish of rare earth elements or get rid of them. Rare earth elements sources for animals can be water, fodder vegetation, and weathered rocks of the crusts (in Sikhote-Alin, these are mainly rhyolites, their tuffs, and tuffites). Chemical elements, including rare earth elements, upon entering the body of mammals, can be accumulated in body tissues, including hair. That is why the study of the composition of micromineral inclusions in animal hair is of interest. Aim of the research is to search and determine microminerals in the hairline of animals from the territory of the Terneisky district of Primorsky Krai; to identify the localization sites of microminerals. Methods. Animal hair samples were studied using a Hitachi S-3400N scanning electron microscope with a Bruker X@Flash 5010 energy-dispersive spectrometer. The results were interpreted using modern Internet databases of minerals. Results. Electron microscopic studies have shown that the hairline of a domestic pig contains aluminosilicates of complex composition, copper and iron oxides, ilmenite, quartz, galena, muscovite, calcite, potassium feldspar, albite, barite, zircon, pyroxene, apatite, rare earth phosphates. In red deer hair: quartz, muscovite, plagioclase, iron oxides, calcite, titanite, and montmorillonite were found. Quartz, plagioclase, muscovite-illite, kaolinite, titanium silicate, calcite, iron oxides, chlorite, titanite, rutile, ilmenite, native nickel, sylvin, cerium oxides, Ce-Al phases, rare earth elements phosphates and complex phases Si-Al-S-Na-O were found in the wild boar hairline. At the same time, a significant part of these minerals were found in the thickness of the hair cuticle in all animals, which suggests their endogenous origin (due to the intake of chemical elements from the blood). Conclusions. The study of the internal sections of animal hair and their surface revealed the existence of both exogenous and endogenous factors in the accumulation of elements in the form of mineral inclusions.

Keywords

• microminerals
• electron microscopy
• wool
• bristle
• hair
• wild boar
• red deer
• domestic pig
• primorsky krai