Effect of pregnancy on mercury concentration in the body of free-living small rodents

JANKOVSKÁ, Ivana, KAREŠOVÁ, Veronika, MICHLOVÁ, Tereza, KUNC, Petr, KNÍŽKOVÁ, Ivana, ZÁRYBNICKÁ, Markéta and LANGROVÁ, Eva. Effect of pregnancy on mercury concentration in the body of free-living small rodents. Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 2024, 60, 910-973. ISSN 0090-3558.
Year2024
CathegoryScientific publication in impacted journals
Internal link24120.pdf
Abstract

Relatively little information exists on the effects of mercury on terrestrial wildlife populations. We analyzed 38 free-living small rodent females (Myodes glareolus, Microtus agrestris, and Apodemus flavicolis), of which 11 were pregnant, for total mercury concentrations in combined liver and kidney samples. Using a single-purpose atomic absorption spectrometer for mercury determination, the measured mercury values ranged from 0.006 to 0.079 mg/kg. Pregnant females had significantly (P < 0.041) higher mercury levels in liver and kidney than did nonpregnant females. Our results suggest that during mercury biomonitoring studies it is necessary to consider the pregnancy of the analyzed animals.