• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Pigeon Bioindicators

Pigeon Bioindicators

February 20, 2018
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/180220_sciup_pigeon.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

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)
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

Category: Daily Show, Station DownloadTag: Children & Families, Medicine & Health
Previous Post: « Laser Archaeology
Next Post: SuperAgers »

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

Recent Posts

House sparrow wearing top hat rides aboard a red fireworks rocket
Biologist E.O. Wilson with children
Diagram showing Earth's tilt

Copyright © 2022 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos