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Portable X-ray fluorescence for bone lead measurements of Australian eagles
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-20, 23:54 authored by Hampton, JO, Specht, AJ, James PayJames Pay, Pokras, MA, Bengsen, AJLead (Pb) toxicity from ammunition has been shown to be a threat to scavenging birds across the globe. Toxic levels of lead have recently been found in Australia's largest bird of prey, the wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax), through inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis of liver and bone samples. However, ICP-MS is consumptive (causing damage to archived specimens), time-consuming, and expensive. For these reasons, portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) devices have been optimized to measure bone lead in North American avian species, humans, and other environmental samples. In this study, we assessed portable XRF for bone lead measurement in Australian raptors in two parts. First, we validated the method using tissues from wedge-tailed eagles from Tasmania (A. a. fleayi), analysing bone samples taken from sites on the femur immediately adjacent to sites for which we had ICP-MS data (n = 89). Second, we measured lead via portable XRF in the skulls of wedge-tailed eagles from south-eastern mainland Australia (A. a. audax) collected during a criminal prosecution (n = 92). Portable XRF bone lead measurement demonstrated an excellent correlation with ICP-MS results using root-transformed regression (R2 = 0.88). Calculated equivalent ICP-MS values revealed that greater than 50% of the eagles from mainland Australia had elevated lead levels (> 10 mg/kg) and 13% had severe lead exposure (> 20 mg/kg). Our results support previous studies of North American avian species and suggest that portable XRF could be a useful and inexpensive option for measurement of bone lead in Australian scavenger species.
Funding
Woolnorth Wind Farm Holding Pty Ltd
History
Publication title
Science of The Total EnvironmentVolume
789Article number
147998Number
147998Pagination
1-6ISSN
0048-9697Department/School
School of Natural SciencesPublisher
Elsevier Science BvPlace of publication
NetherlandsRepository Status
- Restricted