HEAVY METAL RESIDUES IN INTERNAL ORGANS OF ROE DEER (Capreolus capreolus) AS BIOINDICATORS OF FOREST ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION IN WESTERN STARA PLANINA
GEORGI MARKOV*, ATIDZHE AHMED
Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, BAS, 1 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd., Sofia 1000, Bulgaria
*Corresponding author: georgimar@gmail.com
Keywords: Heavy metals, biomonitoring, European roe deer, Western Stara Planina
Abstract: The aim of the study was to check the current loading by heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn) of European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), inhabiting typical forest mountain region in Western Bulgaria. The roe deer liver and kidneys were used as target organs for determination of analytic concentrations of them by an inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) using a Perkin Elmer Optima 7000 DV. The concentrations of the tested metals, specific for each organ, showed a range of variability of median values. In the liver, the variability range of element concentration [mg/kg dry tissues] were: for Cu from 13,9 to 21,5; for Zn from 45,8 to 393,1; for Pb from 0,5 to 1,7 and for Cd from 0,1 to 10,8. In kidneys, they were: for Cu from 47,5 to 59,6; for Zn from 381,4 to 415,4; for Pb from 0,1 to 9.2 and for Cd from 6,6 to 37,2 respectively. The obtained results created a baseline for the estimation of current heavy metal accumulation in roe deer in the investigated region. They offer an opportunity that the roe deer in Bulgaria could be used as a bioindicator of future potential anthropogenic negative impact on the environment in forest regions of the country.