众所周知,废旧弹药引起的铅中毒会影响许多鸟类。猎物的鸟在用铅枪或子弹射击时摄取铅。具有清除习惯的猛禽在狩猎密集的地区特别容易摄取铅,并且是铅弹药中毒风险的良好指标。为了评估在欧洲中南部有多少兼性和专性禽类清道夫遭受铅污染,在2005年至2019年之间,我们收集并分析了来自4种(金鹰,留着胡子的秃鹰,狮狮秃鹰,灰质秃鹰)。器官中的铅浓度在不同物种之间显示出相似的模式,长骨和小骨显示出最高的中值(5.56和6.8mg/kgw.w.,分别),大脑最低(0.12),肝脏和肾脏中间(0.47和0.284)。总的来说,111名个体(44.0%)在至少一种组织中的铅浓度高于背景阈值(即软组织中>2mg/kgw.w.,骨中>8.33)和66(26.2%)的值表明临床中毒(肝脏中>6mg/kgw.w.,>4肾脏,>骨骼中的16.6)。金鹰和狮狮秃鹰的组织铅浓度和临床和亚临床中毒的发生率高于有胡子和灰质秃鹰,可能是由于不同的喂养习惯。在所有物种中,我们发现铅值随着年龄的增长而迅速增加,但是年龄类别之间的差异仅在金鹰中存在显着差异。消化道里有铅碎片的鸟,通过X射线检测,铅浓度中位数较高,这表明狩猎弹药是铅中毒的主要来源。我们的结果表明,铅影响这些长寿物种的人口统计学,性成熟延迟和繁殖率低。因此,整个欧洲都需要向无铅子弹和枪声快速过渡。
Lead poisoning from spent ammunition is known to affect many avian species. Birds of prey ingest lead when feeding on game shot with lead gunshot or bullets. Raptors with scavenging habits are particularly vulnerable to ingesting lead in areas with intensive hunting and are good indicators of the risk of poisoning from lead ammunition. To assess how much facultative and obligate avian scavengers suffer lead contamination in south-central Europe, between 2005 and 2019 we collected and analysed 595 tissue samples from 252 carcasses of 4 species (golden eagle, bearded vulture, griffon vulture, cinereous vulture). Lead concentrations in organs showed a similar pattern across species with long and small bones revealing the highest median values (5.56 and 6.8 mg/kg w.w., respectively), the brain the lowest (0.12), and the liver and kidney the intermediate (0.47 and 0.284). Overall, 111 individuals (44.0%) had lead concentrations above background thresholds in at least one tissue (i.e. >2 mg/kg w.w. in soft tissues, >8.33 in bone) and 66 (26.2%) had values indicating clinical poisoning (>6 mg/kg w.w. in liver, >4 in kidney, >16.6 in bone). Tissue lead concentrations and incidence of clinical and sub-clinical poisoning were higher in golden eagles and griffon vultures than in bearded and cinereous vultures, likely due to different feeding habits. In all species we found a rapid increase in lead values with age, but differences between age classes were significant only in the golden eagle. Birds with lead fragments in their digestive tract, as detected by X-rays, had higher median lead concentrations, suggesting that hunting ammunition is the main source of lead poisoning. Our results imply that lead impacts the demography of these long-lived species with delayed sexual maturity and low reproduction rate. A rapid transition towards lead-free bullets and gunshot is therefore required across Europe.