Concentrations of heavy metals in the blood of cocks (Gallus gallus domesticus) in Cumaná, Venezuela

Abstract

<p>The concentrations of heavy metals in birds are influenced by factors such as diet, migration, and residence time. The present study measured the concentrations (in μg∙g-1 of dry weight) of the following heavy metals in the blood of cocks (<em>Gallus gallus domesticus</em>): cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), and zinc (Zn). For the effect, 2 ml of blood was extracted from eight adult and seven juvenile cocks, and then they were processed with routine digestion techniques, pouring 0.5 g of blood into digestion tubes with 5 ml of an acid mixture (180 ml of nitric acid and 100 ml of hydrochloric acid), using a heating block, to analyze them in an atomic absorption spectrophotometer with air-acetylene flow and a deuterium corrector. The average concentrations of heavy metals found in the blood of adult and juvenile cocks did not show statistically significant differences, but it evidenced that the pattern of concentrations was different in each group. In descending order: Zn > Ni > Pb > Cu > Cr > Cd, in adults; and Zn > Pb > Ni > Cu > Cr > Cd, in juveniles. Average concentrations for each one of the analyzed heavy metals obtained in rooster blood were below the permissible limits or were similar to those indicated in studies carried out in other countries. In general, the concentrations of heavy metals found in cocks are not considered alarming</p>