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Distribution of metals and trace elements in adult and juvenile penguins from the Antarctic Peninsula area

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Abstract

The presence of metals in the Antarctic environment is principally a natural phenomenon caused by geochemical characteristics of the region, although some anthropogenic activities can increase these natural levels. Antarctic penguins present several of the characteristics of useful sentinels of pollution in Antarctica such as they are long-lived species situated at the top of food web. The concentrations of Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Cd, and Pb were determined by inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry in samples of liver, kidney, muscle, bone, feather, and stomach contents of gentoo, chinstrap, and Adélie penguin (12 adults, five juveniles) from carcasses of naturally dead individuals collected opportunistically in the Antarctic Peninsula area. The obtained results showed that accumulation and magnification of several elements can be occurring, so that Cd and Se reached levels potentially toxic in some specimens. The presence of human activities seems to be increasing the presence of toxic metals such as Mn, Cr, Ni, or Pb in penguins.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Spanish polar ship Las Palmas, the Spanish polar base “Gabriel de Castilla,” the Argentinean polar base “Carlini,” the Instituto Antártico Argentino and the Maritime Technology Unit (CSIC) for providing logistic support. We also thank the Scientific Instrumentation Service (University of Murcia) and the Technological Instrumentation Service (Technical University of Cartagena) for their analytical support. Permissions to work in the study area were given by the Spanish Polar Committee. This study has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation CGL204-01348, POL2006-05175, and CGL2007-60369. This study is a contribution to the International Polar Year project 172 BirdHealth and to Pinguclim project. Finally, the authors gratefully acknowledge the feedback provided by anonymous referees.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Área de Toxicología, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100, Murcia, Spain

    Silvia Jerez & Miguel Motas

  2. Departamento de Ecología Funcional y Evolutiva, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, CSIC, Carretera de Sacramento s/n, La Cañada de San Urbano, 04120, Almería, Spain

    Jesús Benzal & Andrés Barbosa

  3. Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores (CCT La Plata-CONICET-UNLP), No 584, 1900, La Plata, Argentina

    Julia Diaz

  4. Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100, Murcia, Spain

    Virginia Vidal

  5. Centro Nacional Patagónico (CENPAT-CONICET), Boulevard Brown 2825, Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina

    Verónica D’Amico

  6. Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, C/ José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Andrés Barbosa

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  1. Silvia Jerez
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  2. Miguel Motas
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  3. Jesús Benzal
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Correspondence to Silvia Jerez.

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Responsible editor: Stuart Simpson

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Tissues of Antarctic penguins presented high levels of some toxic metals as a result of bioaccumulation and/or biomagnification phenomena.

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Jerez, S., Motas, M., Benzal, J. et al. Distribution of metals and trace elements in adult and juvenile penguins from the Antarctic Peninsula area. Environ Sci Pollut Res 20, 3300–3311 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-1235-z

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