Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in the lizard Psammodromus algirus after a tailing-dam collapse in Aznalcóllar (Southwest Spain).

Quantification of heavy metal concentrations in biota is a common technique that helps environmental managers measure the level of pollutants circulating in ecosystems. Despite interest in heavy metals as indicators of localized pollution, few studies have assessed these pollutants in reptiles. In 1998, the tailing pond of a pyrite mine near Aznalcóllar (southwestern Spain), containing mud with high heavy metal concentrations, collapsed, releasing 6 million m(3) of toxic sludge into the Guadiamar Basin.