Enrichment characteristics and risk assessment of Hg in bird feathers from Caohai wetland in Guizhou

• 作者: Fengcheng Peng Tianrong He Zhenji Li Mengyu Chen Xiaoli Qian Lingxia Zeng Yiyuan Xu
• 学科: 地球科学
• 关键词: Caohai wetland Total Hg Methyl Hg Bird feathers
• 年，卷（期）: 2022,（4）
• 页码范围: 526-536
• 页数: 10页
• 语种: 英文
• DOI: 10.1007/s11631-017-0242-7

摘要

Based on the analysis of the enrichment characteristics of Hg and MeHg in bird feathers from Caohai National Nature Reserve in Guizhou, the risks of Hg pollution to the birds from Caohai wetland have been evaluated. The total Hg content of bird feathers ranges from 40 to 5058 ng/g with an average of 924 ng/g. The content of MeHg is significantly correlated with total Hg (r = 0.68, p < 0.01), and the content are among 0.75 and 113 ng/g. The total Hg content in the birds feathers is significantly dependent on their feeding habits, which is mainly in accordance with the following rule: carnivorous birds > omnivorous birds that are mainly carnivorous > omnivorous birds that are mainly herbivorous. There are also differences in the Hg enrichment ability in the different parts of bird feathers, and the total Hg and MeHg content in the wing feathers are significantly higher than that in the other parts of feathers. The bioaccumulation coefficients of aqueous Hg and MeHg by bird feathers are 0.9 × 104-112.13 × 104 (mean value is 20.47 × 104) and 0.47 × 104-70.4 × 104 (mean value is 9.52 × 104), respectively. Although the whole Hg level in Caohai bird feathers is not too high, the Hg content in some carnivorous birds exceeds over or approaches the abnormal threshold when birds are breeding (5 μg/g), which indicates that the birds in Caohai wetland are faced with some risks of ecological Hg pollution.