Relating the ability of mallards to ingest high levels of sediment to potential contaminant exposure in waterfowl

When waterfowl feed from the bottom of bodies of water, they sometimes ingest sediments along with their food, and this sediment can be a major source of contaminants. Learning how much sediment waterfowl can consume in their diet and still maintain their health would be helpful in assessing potenti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental toxicology and chemistry 2010-07, Vol.29 (7), p.1621-1624
Main Authors: Heinz, Gary H., Beyer, W. Nelson, Hoffman, David J., Audet, Daniel J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anas platyrhynchos
Animals
Blood plasma chemistries
Body weight
Consumption
Contaminants
Contaminated sediments
Diet
Diets
Ducks - physiology
Environmental Exposure
Foods
Geologic Sediments
Health
Learning
Mallards
Sediment ingestion
Sediments
Soil contaminants
Studies
Swallowing
Toxicity
Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity
Waterfowl
Wildfowl
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Summary:When waterfowl feed from the bottom of bodies of water, they sometimes ingest sediments along with their food, and this sediment can be a major source of contaminants. Learning how much sediment waterfowl can consume in their diet and still maintain their health would be helpful in assessing potential threats from contaminants in sediment. In a controlled laboratory study the maximum tolerated percentage of sediment in the diet of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) was measured. When fed a well‐balanced commercial avian diet, 50, 60, or 70% sediment in the diet on a dry‐weight basis did not cause weight loss over a two‐week period. Ducks fed this same commercial diet, but containing 80 or 90% sediment, lost 8.6 and 15.6% of their body weight, respectively, in the first week on those diets. After factoring in the ability of the mallards to sieve out some of the sediment from their diet before swallowing it, we concluded that the mallards could maintain their health even when approximately half of what they swallowed, on a dry‐weight basis, was sediment. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2010;29:1621–1624. © 2010 SETAC
ISSN:0730-7268
1552-8618
1552-8618
DOI:10.1002/etc.174