Enclosure design for flock-level, chronic exposure of birds to air contaminant mixtures.

The objective of this study was to design an enclosure suitable for studying the ecotoxicological effects of vehicle emissions on groups of wild birds without compromising welfare. Two, adjacent enclosures sheltered from sunlight, wind and rain, were bird-proofed and wrapped with thick polyethylene sheeting. Emissions were directed into the treatment enclosure from the exhaust of a light-duty gasoline truck, using flexible, heat-proof pipe, with joins sealed to prevent leakage.

Biomarker Sensitivity to Vehicle Exhaust in Experimentally Exposed European Starlings.

The effects of vehicle-related emissions on health has been a long-standing question in human health sciences; however, the toxicology of chronic exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of these complex mixtures has not been characterized in wild birds. Adult European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) were exposed to vehicle emissions, with combined benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) concentrations totaling 13.3 μg/m over 20 days of exposure for 5 h per day.

European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) As Sentinels of Urban Air Pollution: A Comprehensive Approach from Noninvasive to Post Mortem Investigation.

Urban, traffic-related air pollution remains a concern to health-care and environmental professionals, with mounting evidence connecting diverse disease conditions with exposure. Wildlife species such as European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) cohabit urban neighborhoods and may serve as sentinels for these contaminants. In this novel approach, we use passive, personal-type air samplers to provide site-specific measurements of nitrogen dioxide (NO), sulfur dioxide (SO) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs, such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes, or BTEX), and account for the effects of confounding environmental factors when teasing out the responses to exposure.

Suspected lead poisoning in two captive cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus) in South Africa, in 2008 and 2013.

Whilst lead poisoning in raptors, scavenging birds and waterfowl is well studied and common knowledge, there is surprisingly little literature detailing the risk to mammalian scavengers and captive carnivores fed hunted meat. This case report describes the death of two captive cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus) following acute onset of nervous symptoms. Clinical signs included hyper-excitability, seizures, arched back, tail held abnormally high and hyper-salivation.

Sublethal health effects in laboratory rodents from environmentally relevant exposures to oil sands contaminants.

Increasing activity of oil sands extraction and processing in northern Alberta is marked by ongoing controversy about the nature and extent of associated environmental impacts. Bitumen contains a mixture of toxic chemicals, including metals and residual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), whose release into the environment poses a distinct risk to the surrounding environment, plus wildlife and human health. In the present study, the authors evaluated several subclinical biomarkers of exposure and effect to mixtures of metals (Pb, Cd, and Hg) and/or PAHs (3 alkylated forms) at environmentally relevant concentrations (100-fold and 10-fold higher than the maximum dissolved concentrations found in snow, to simulate a worst-case scenario), using laboratory mice as a model for future studies of small mammals in the wild.