Potential risks to birds from exposure to metals through their diet at a zinc smelter
Conference
·
OSTI ID:218484
- PTI Environmental Services, Bellevue, WA (United States)
A baseline ecological risk assessment (ERA) was conducted on a 200-acre prairie habitat (study area) immediately south of the National Zinc Site (NZS) in Bartlesville, OK, to evaluate the potential risk to birds of exposure to historical emissions of cadmium, lead, and zinc. The zinc facility was operated with horizontal retort smelters from 1907 until 1976 when the facility was converted to an electrolytic operation. The study area encompasses a mosaic of habitat types including native and normative grasslands, agricultural fields, riparian areas, and pond and creek habitats. Receptor species selected for this baseline ERA were the redtailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), great blue heron (Ardea herodias), and the belted kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon), resident species in the Bartlesville area. The primary exposure pathway for all receptors was considered ingestion of dietary items, evaluated using a food-web model approach based on behavior of the metals in environmental media and natural history characteristics of the receptor species. Exposure pathways for the red-tailed hawk included ingestion of small mammals and water. Exposure pathways for the great blue heron and belted kingfisher included consumption of fish, crayfish, aquatic insects, and ingestion of water. The assessment endpoint for each species was reproductive impairment, with measurement endpoints being site-specific concentrations in dietary components. All exposures calculated from these models indicate the concentrations in the diet are less than toxicity reference values measuring reproductive endpoints. The results of this study indicate birds are not at risk from exposure to the concentrations of cadmium, lead, and zinc that occur in the aquatic and terrestrial environments of the study area.
- OSTI ID:
- 218484
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137--; ISBN 1-880611-03-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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