Mammals and Birds As Bioindicators of Trace Element Contaminations in Terrestrial Environments : An Ecotoxicological Assessment of the Northern Hemisphere

The population explosion that began in the 1960s has been accompanied by a decrease in the quality of the natural environment, e.g. pollution of the air, water and soil with essential and toxic trace elements. Numerous poisonings of people and animals with highly toxic anthropogenic Hg and Cd in the 20th century prompted the creation of the abiotic environment, mainly in developed countries. However, the system is insufficient for long-term exposure to low concentrations of various substances that are mainly ingested through food and water. This problem could be addressed by the monitoring of sentinels – organisms that accumulate trace elements and as such reflect the rate and degree of environmental pollution. Usually these are long-lived vertebrates – herbivorous, omnivorous and carnivorous birds and mammals, especially game species. This book describes the responses of the sentinels most commonly used in ecotoxicological studies to 17 trace elements. Front Matter ....Pages i-xii Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Human Population Increase and Changes in Production and Usage of Trace Elements in the Twentieth Century and First Decades of the Twenty-First Century (Elżbieta Kalisińska)....Pages 3-20 Endothermic Animals as Biomonitors of Terrestrial Environments (Elżbieta Kalisińska)....Pages 21-53 Front Matter ....Pages 55-55 Chromium, Cr (Tadeusz Kośla, Iwona Lasocka, Marta Kołnierzak)....Pages 57-124 Copper, Cu (Natalia Łanocha-Arendarczyk, Danuta I. Kosik-Bogacka)....Pages 125-161 Iodine, I (Bogumiła Pilarczyk, Agnieszka Tomza-Marciniak, Renata Pilarczyk, Andrzej Marciniak, Małgorzata Bąkowska, Jan Udała)....Pages 163-180 Iron, Fe (Danuta Kosik-Bogacka, Natalia Łanocha-Arendarczyk, Elżbieta Kalisińska, Karolina Kot, Danuta Czernomysy-Furowicz, Bogumiła Pilarczyk et al.)....Pages 181-212 Manganese, Mn (Elżbieta Kalisińska, Halina Budis)....Pages 213-246 Molybdenum, Mo (Tadeusz Kośla, Michał Skibniewski, Ewa M. Skibniewska, Iwona Lasocka, Marta Kołnierzak)....Pages 247-279 Nickel, Ni (Łukasz J. Binkowski)....Pages 281-299 Selenium, Se (Bogumiła Pilarczyk, Agnieszka Tomza-Marciniak, Renata Pilarczyk, Andrzej Marciniak, Małgorzata Bąkowska, Ewa Nowakowska)....Pages 301-362 Zinc, Zn (Danuta I. Kosik-Bogacka, Natalia Łanocha-Arendarczyk)....Pages 363-411 Aluminum, Al (Ewa Skibniewska, Michał Skibniewski)....Pages 413-462 Arsenic, As (Łukasz J. Binkowski)....Pages 463-481 Cadmium, Cd (Agnieszka Tomza-Marciniak, Bogumiła Pilarczyk, Andrzej Marciniak, Jan Udała, Małgorzata Bąkowska, Renata Pilarczyk)....Pages 483-532 Fluorine, F (Izabela Gutowska, Monika Rać, Dariusz Chlubek)....Pages 533-561 Lead, Pb (Irena Baranowska-Bosiacka, Jan Korbecki, Mariola Marchlewicz)....Pages 563-592 Mercury, Hg (Elżbieta Kalisińska, Natalia Łanocha-Arendarczyk, Danuta I. Kosik-Bogacka)....Pages 593-653 Silver, Ag (Lidia Strużyńska)....Pages 655-691 Tin, Sn (Agnieszka Tomza-Marciniak, Bogumiła Pilarczyk, Andrzej Marciniak, Renata Pilarczyk, Małgorzata Bąkowska)....Pages 693-708