Dogs as indicators of urban lead distribution

✍ Scribed by Emil Kucera

• Book ID: 104754187
• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1988
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 364 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0167-6369
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00394256

✦ Synopsis

Lead (Pb)

concentrations in 398 samples of dog whole blood were determined by atomic absorption method. All samples were within the normal range of values reported in literature, 95% of the samples had < 8.0 gtg/100 ml lead. The correlation between blood lead level and the volume of traffic was highly significant. About 11 ~ of the variability in concentration can be explained by the traffic flows near the animal's home. The findings confirm that traffic contributes a significant portion of the total inhaled lead. The use of dogs as environmental lead monitors is discussed. It is concluded that in non-occupational situations a survey of lead in blood of dogs may serve as a feasible, low-cost alternative to large-scale surveys of humans.