Pigeon Bioindicators
February 20, 2018
Pigeons serve as indicators of lead levels in city neighborhoods.
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Transcript
Pigeons are part of the urban landscape in New York City, and reflect the heavy metal levels of the neighborhoods they inhabit. (Alessandro Valli/CC BY-2.0, via flickr)
BOB HIRSHON (host):
Toxic pigeons. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
Lead in paint and gasoline has been banned for decades, but its residue still lingers in the environment, posing a hazard to children’s developing brains. UC Davis researcher Rebecca Calisi says she’s turned to pigeons to track the heavy metal, because they share our streets.
REBECCA CALISI RODRÍGUEZ (UC Davis):
We want to use pigeons to warn us of dangerous contaminants in our environment that have a serious negative impact on our health.
HIRSHON:
Over a five-year period, Calisi and her colleague Fayme Cai tested lead levels in pigeons from across New York City.
CALISI RODRÍGUEZ:
Areas that had pigeons that had high lead levels also appeared to be lead hotspots for children as well.
HIRSHON:
At the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Calisi suggested that monitoring pigeons could provide a practical alternative to human testing. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.
Story by Susanne Bard
