• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.29 no.1 s.52
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• pp.15-26
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• 1996

It has been studied that a variety of fauna and flora are sensitive biological indicators which reflect the severity of regional pollution of heavy metals, but in the center of part of Taegu City the controversial issue of lead poisoning attributable to the atmosphere which contains an increased concentrations of lead has been raised recently, it is usually hard to find suitable plants or animal in the areas with heavy traffic. Pigeons are ubiquitous in and around Taegu City area, inhabiting even the most densely populated areas with heavy traffic. With its small body size, high metabolic turnover, and rather limited mobility, a pigeon, as a biological indicator is expected. This study was conducted to monitor lead pollution in the Taegu and Kyongju City in Korea. We measured the lead content of the various tissue of three groups of feral pigeon(Columba livia) and soil and atmospheric lead concentration. First group was obtained in heavy traffic area in Taegu City, the second group was obtained a park in Taegu City and the third group was obtained light traffic area in Kyongju City. The air and soil lead concentration of heavy traffic area in Taegu City was $0.11{\mu}g/m^3,\;4.96{\mu}g/g$, that of park in Taegu City was $0.05{\mu}g/m^3,\;2.65{\mu}g/g$ and that of light traffic area in Kyongju City was $0.03{\mu}g/m^3,\;0.01{\mu}g/g$. The lead content of lung, blood, kidney, femur and liver of feral pigeons in heavy traffic area in Taegu City was significantly higher than pigeons obtained in a park in Taegu City and low traffic density area in Kyongju City(p<0.01). But stomach lead content of three group did not reflect a significant difference. In this study positive correlation was found between atmospheric lead concentrations and the concentration of lead in the pigeon's lung(r=0.5040, p<0.001), blood(r=0.3322, p<0.01), kidney(r=0.4824, p<0.001), femur(r=0.7214, p<0.001) and liver(r=0.4836, p<0.01). We can also found positive correlation between soil lead concentrations and the concentration of lead in the pigeon's femur(r=0.4850, p<0.001), kidney(r=0.4850, p<0.001) and liver(r=0.4386, p<0.01). In the pigeon's tissue there were significant correlations between concentration of lead in the blood and kidney(r=4818, p<0.001), femur(r=0.6157, p<0.001) and liver(r=0.3889, p<0.001). In conclusion, at the heavy traffic area in Taegu City, lead concentrations found in the atmosphere and soil are reflected in the lead concentrations of different tissue of urban pigeons. It is suggested that the tissue of pigeons can be good biological indicators of environmental lead pollution.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.492-504
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• 2014

Feral pigeon (Columba livia) has been known as a good indicator for accumulations of chemical pollutants in urban areas. However, it is against the animal rights to kill the indicator species in order to monitor pollutants accumulations in wild birds. Eggs and feathers of birds, therefore, have been used as non-invasive monitoring materials. Even though eggs are a good indicator for accumulations of lipophilic pollutants, but unsuitable for some heavy metals such as lead and cadmium because bird's ovary builds a sort of barrier to inhibit higher accumulations of some heavy metals in the eggs. Therefore, feathers instead of eggs have been used as a non-invasive indicator for accumulations of heavy metals. However, there are few studies of heavy metal accumulations of feral pigeon in Korea. In this study, we characterized the characteristics of heavy metal accumulations of feathers in relation to internal organs (bloods, viscera and bones) in feral pigeons between two sites (Hangang Park representing urban area and Hampyeong Park for rural area). The samples from the Hangang Park showed significantly higher lead (Pb) concentrations in the blood, liver and bone than those from Hampyeong Park. The Pb concentration in the feathers was also significantly higher at Hangang Park than at Hampyeong Park. The analytical result for the breast, wing and tail feathers, and the internal organs (blood, lung, liver, kidney and bone) indicated that the Pb concentrations in the feathers were significantly positively correlated with the levels in the kidney and bone. Overall, feathers of feral pigeon may be candidate for bioindicator to monitor for Pb accumulations in urban areas.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.233-238
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• 2002

In this study, we investigated the lead exposure conditions using feathers of pigeons as a monitor for lead pollution from rural (Duckjeok Island), central urban (Seoul), and industrial complex areas (Yochon, Ansan, Ulsan, and Busan) in Korea. The feathers were taken from breast body parts and their lead analysis was performed without washing the feathers to reflect lead particles attached to the surface. The tissue lead concentrations were also compared with levels of atmospheric concentrations. The lead levels in the feathers were increased when the atmospheric lead levels were higher, so that the lead levels in the feathers of the pigeons from the industrial complex area with highest atmospheric lead levels were about four times greater than those of the rural areas. A positive correlation was found between the lead concentration of the pigeon's livers and feathers in rural, and the Yochon industrial complex area with the lowest lead levels. This result means that most of lead in feathers is transported from body tissues during the molting period without attached atmospheric lead. Thus, the feather lead concentrations could be discussed in the light of the metabolism known to occur between the liver and feathers. However, there were not significant correlations in the other areas with higher atmospheric lead levels, and observed relatively higher lead accumulation ratio in feathers than in livers compared with rural and the Yochon industrial complex areas. It is therefore suggested that the former was more exposure conditions and mainly influenced by outer pollutant sources than by the metabolism as the latter.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.59.1-59.13
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• 2023

Background: Rocuronium bromide has been evaluated as a mydriatic agent in birds, but the species applied were limited and the dose and effect were variable. Objective: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of topical rocuronium bromide as mydriatics in 4 species according to horizontal palpebral fissure length: Feral pigeon (Columba livia), Common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), Northern boobook (Ninox japonica), and Eurasian eagle owl (Bubo bubo). Methods: A total of 32 birds (8 for each species) were included as pre-releasing examination. Rocuronium bromide was instilled in one randomly selected eye of each bird based on palpebral fissure length criteria (0.5 mg/50 µL for pigeons, 1 mg/100 µL for kestrels and boobook owls, and 2 mg/200 µL for eagle owls). The contralateral eye was used as control and treated with normal saline. After instillation of the drug, pupil diameter, pupillary light reflex, intraocular pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate were evaluated at 10 min intervals up to 180 min and at 30 min intervals up to 360 min. Results: Statistically significant mydriasis was obtained in all birds (p < 0.001). However, in boobook and eagle owls, marked mydriasis persisted until 360 min. Side effects including corneal erosion and lower eyelid paralysis were common, which was observed in 26/32 birds. Blepharospasm was also noted during this study. No systemic adverse signs were observed. Conclusions: Rocuronium bromide could be a good mydriatics option for 4 species of birds, however, further studies are needed to find lowest effective dose to reduce drug-related side effects.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.502-513
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• 2016

In this study, heavy metal distributions in the tissues of feral pigeon (Columba livia) were characterized using samples collected from bio-monitoring sites (Hangang Park and Hampyeong Park) of the NESB (National Environmental Specimen Bank), Korea, in order to evaluate the feasibility of feral pigeons as an indicator for the environmental monitoring. Cadmium (Cd) was analyzed to be accumulated in kidneys at higher concentration than in the other tissues. Such trend can also be found in the reviews on the Cd accumulations of the 34 cases including 17 avian species which showed that 31 cases had the highest Cd concentrations in the kidney among tissues. However, lead (Pb) was found to be richest in the bones in this study. 17 cases out of 30 reviewed cases had the highest Pb concentration in bones, whereas other 10 cases showed the highest concentration in kidneys, and 3 cases in livers. Therefore, kidneys together with bones can be a main target organ to test cadmium exposure to different habitat environments depending on physiological traits of birds. Zinc (Zn) was found to be the highest concentration in the pigeon livers of Hangang Park, but not in the bones. In contrast, the 13 cases of 16 reviewed cases had the highest Zn concentration in bones, and the 3 cases in livers. In addition, the heavy metal distribution patterns in relations to the metal accumulation mechanisms (a competition between Pb and Ca, a function of methallothionein protein, and etc.) were discussed.