Red deer antlers as biomonitors for lead contamination
- Veterinary Univ. Vienna, Wien (Austria)
Changes in human lead exposure were reconstructed by lead analyses of ancient teeth and bones, as lead accumulates in calcified tissues. As a consequence of research on wildlife species as biomonitors for environmental pollution, red deer antlers were considered as indicators for temporal and regional changes of environmental contamination by pollutants such as lead and strontium-90. The chemical composition of the antler is similar to that of other bony tissues in the body. As many hunters keep antlers as trophies even from a long time ago, without any conservational treatment but with an exact listing of the date and place of shooting, the antlers represent valuable samples for environmental research, especially reconstruction of pollution of the past decades when modern analytical techniques did not exist. The primary focus of this study was to compare pollution by lead before and after the introduction of lead additives to vehicle`s fuel and the impact of radioactive strontium-90 to the environment. Results of {sup 90}Sr analyses will be published in another paper. 11 refs., 2 figs.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 93925
- Journal Information:
- Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, Vol. 55, Issue 3; Other Information: PBD: Sep 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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