A study of black vulture feathers in Mexico showed that the scavengers are exposed to an array of heavy metals.
What's happening?
Researchers gathered 125 molting feathers from open dumpsites and sanitary landfills in rural, semiurban, and urban areas of Campeche, a state on the Yucatan Peninsula. They used the samples as bioindicators and an analog for humans' exposure to heavy metals. The paper was published in Environmental Research in April.
"Aluminum and arsenic presented the highest concentrations in feathers," according to a summary of the results shared by ScienceDirect.
Mercury was spread evenly in the three environments, while aluminum, tin, and lead were prominent in rural areas. Chromium, copper, and arsenic had the highest concentrations in urban areas. Cadmium was most prevalent in semiurban areas.
The study noted vultures eat up to 95% of carcasses in their areas and that metals and metalloids can harm or kill birds, cause reproductive and immune system problems, and reduce their growth rates and body weights, among other hazards.
The study area was 60,000 square kilometers and covered approximately 928,000 birds.
"Black vultures from dumpsites are good bioindicators of what humans consume in urban, semiurban, and rural environments," the authors wrote. "However, the conservation of vultures is of great importance since these scavenger birds perform ecosystem services by feeding on decomposing organic material."
Why is studying exposure to heavy metals important?
Heavy metals include known carcinogens that have caused damage to multiple organs in the human body. They can cause problems even at low exposure levels and have been increasingly polluting the environment. They can have long-lasting effects on the brain and cause cognitive dysfunction.
This disproportionately affects people of color and those with lower incomes.
Drinking water, food (especially fish), and medication can contain these metals, and people who handle or work with them have an elevated risk of exposure, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
You can take steps to reduce your risk of poisoning, but it's not as easy as buying organic or washing your produce — even 94% of homemade baby food includes heavy metals.
What's being done about heavy metals in the environment?
Governments must protect us from corporations and industries that release these toxic pollutants into our soil, air, and water. California, for example, is banning fracking, which has been linked to radium contamination in mussels. In Australia, conservationists are working to reduce the effects of rising global temperatures on seagrass, which can store heavy metals much like trees store carbon.
You can support such efforts by voting for politicians who will take action to protect us and the environment, choosing where to spend your money, and even just talking to friends and family about them.
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