Abstract

Osmium tetroxide (OsO(4)) is one of the most toxic air contaminants but its environmental effects are poorly understood. Here, for the first time, we present evidence of osmium uptake in a common herbivore (bank vole, Myodes glareolus) in boreal forests of northern Sweden. Voles (n = 22) and fruticose arboreal pendular lichens, the potential main winter food source of the vole, were collected along a spatial gradient to the west of a steelwork in Tornio, Finland at the Finnish-Swedish border. (187)Os/(188)Os isotope ratios increased and osmium concentrations decreased in lichens and voles along the gradient. Osmium concentrations in lichens were 10,000-fold higher than those in voles. Closest to the steelwork, concentrations were highest in kidneys rather than skin/fur that are directly exposed to airborne OsO(4). The kidney-to-body weight ratio was higher at the two localities close to the steelwork. Even though based on a small sample size, our results for the first time demonstrate that osmium is taken up, partitioned, and accumulated in mammal tissue, and indicate that high kidney-to-body weight ratios might be induced by anthropogenic osmium.

Keywords

Boreal forest; Herbivore; Kidney-to-body weight ratio; Metal uptake; Spatial gradient

Published in

Water, Air, and Soil Pollution
2011, Volume: 218, number: 1-4, pages: 603-610
Publisher: SPRINGER

SLU Authors

• Hörnfeldt, Birger

  • Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Ecke, Frauke

  • Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Luleå University of Technology

UKÄ Subject classification

Ecology
Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-010-0671-y

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/39997