Homing Pigeons as Biomonitors of Atmospheric Metal Exposure and Health Effects to Promote Environment Sustainability

Homing pigeons are promising biomonitors of atmospheric metal pollution that may influence human health and environmental sustainability. However, exact interactions between respiratory and oral exposure and associations between atmospheric and pulmonary metal concentrations and effects are lacking. The current experiments measure differences in homing pigeon tissue cadmium, lead, and mercury concentrations due to diet and atmospheric exposure, and changes in pulmonary lesions associated with changing seasonal atmospheric metal concentrations. Forty 6-week-old homing pigeons were raised for 9 months in experiment 1, and seventy-five pigeons from different age groups were necropsied in winter, spring/summer, and autumn in experiment 2. Results indicate that atmospheric metal concentrations influence lung cadmium and lead concentrations, that atmospheric metal concentrations fluctuated seasonally and were greatest in fine particulate matter (PM2.1) during winter, and the rate of lung cadmium and lead accumulations reflected temporal changes. There were significant correlations between lung metal concentrations and alveolar macrophage lesions. Time (10 months) and higher metal concentrations (266 ng/g for Cd and 16,442 ng/g for Pb) are both important factors in the production of pulmonary dust cells. Our experiments indicate that homing pigeons can provide specific information on diseases resulting from atmospheric pollution exposure and that these data can assist in public health decisions and environmental regulations to promote sustainable development of the environment.