Heavy Metal Contamination in Birds from Protected Regions in the Amazon.

ABSTRACT: The extraction of crude oil and gold has substantially increased heavy metal contamination in the environment, yet the study of wildlife exposure and biological response to this pollution remains nascent even in the most biodiverse places in the world. We present a survey of heavy metal exposure in the feathers of wedge-billed woodcreepers (Glyphorynchus spirurus), a resident neotropical bird found within protected regions of the Amazon near oil and gold extraction sites. Our results show elevated heavy metal contamination in samples collected from protected areas proximate to known oil and gold extraction. Surprisingly, several samples from remote reference sites also displayed elevated levels of various heavy metals, suggesting a background of natural deposition or complex heavy metal co

SUBMITTER: Loera Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11619747 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature