Is blood a reliable indicator of trace metal concentrations in organs of small mammals?

ABSTRACT

In wildlife ecotoxicology, the rationale for using blood rather than other body fluids or tissues is that sampling blood is a minimally invasive technique without animal mortality, providing both ethical and scientific benefits. To date, few studies are available on the relationships between blood and organ metal concentrations of small mammals living in contaminated sites. The present work aimed to study the relationships between the concentrations of 18 essential and nonessential metals in blood and their concentrations in the liver and kidneys, two accumulation and target organs, in wood mice from a former lead and zinc smelter, Metaleurop Nord, in northern France. The results from Se, Pb and Tl indicate that blood levels may be used to predict concentrations in organs of small mammals. Conversely, for Cd, Cu, Fe, Mo, Ti and Zn, blood concentrations were poorly or not related to liver and kidney concentrations. In addition to accurately predicting the concentrations of some metals in target organs, blood can provide important information about the physiological and biochemical status of organisms, but further toxicokinetic research is required to develop the use of blood sampling as a minimally invasive biomonitoring and ecotoxicological method in wildlife.