Trace metals from historical mining sites and past metallurgical activity remain bioavailable to wildlife today.

ABSTRACT: Throughout history, ancient human societies exploited mineral resources all over the world, even in areas that are now protected and considered to be relatively pristine. Here, we show that past mining still has an impact on wildlife in some French protected areas. We measured cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc concentrations in topsoils and wood mouse kidneys from sites located in the Cévennes and the Morvan. The maximum levels of metals in these topsoils are one or two orders of magnitude greater than their commonly reported mean values in European topsoils. The transfer to biota was effective, as the lead concentration (and to a lesser extent, cadmium) in wood mouse kidneys increased with soil concentration, unlike copper and zinc, providing direct evidence that lead emitted in the environ

SUBMITTER: Camizuli E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5821829 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature