Tissue distribution of mercury in normal and abnormal young Common Terns |
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| Authors: | Michael Gochfeld |
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| Institution: | Occupational & Environmental Health, Department of Health, Box 1540, Trenton, NJ 08625, USA |
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| Abstract: | Sixteen young Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) from colonies on the south shore of Long Island, New York, had fairly consistent levels and tissue distribution patterns of total mercury in blood, liver, kidney, muscle, brain and feathers. Levels were highest in liver, blood and feathers, and were lower in muscle and brain. The latter two tissues showed low variability across birds, suggesting that they are more static repositories for mercurial compounds. Only slight, non-significant increases were detected in chicks 10–30 days old compared with 1–9 day olds. Four chicks with abnormal feather loss had significantly higher mercury levels than 12 normal chicks. The average intercorrelation among tissues was highest for liver (mean r2 = 0.40) and blood (mean r2 = 0.38). Liver is probably the single best tissue to serve as a surrogate for all others, due to high correlation with other tissues, large size, and ready availability. Use of a single tissue allows one to focus a study in greater detail and at lower cost than if several tissues were assayed. |
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