Meeting Abstract
Although U.S. government bans on lead in paint and gasoline have significantly reduced lead concentrations in human tissues, lead is still prevalent in our environment. Lead can have detrimental effects on a variety of body processes and is particularly harmful to the developing nervous system, causing potentially permanent health, learning and behavioral disorders. Previous studies outside of the United States have had success using the feral pigeon as a bioindicator to measure heavy metal prevalence in cities. However, none have been conducted in the U.S. or have examined the important effects of season on their blood lead levels. Also, to our knowledge, none have investigated whether a link exists between pigeon blood lead levels and rates of child blood lead toxicity. We collected blood lead level records from 825 pigeons representing various NYC neighborhoods over the four seasons between the years of 2010 and 2015. We found blood lead levels varied by season in the same way that they do in children. We also found that neighborhoods producing pigeons with the highest blood lead levels also exhibited some of the highest rates of lead in children identified by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Thus, we provide support for the use of the feral pigeon as a bioindicator of blood lead levels for the first time in the U.S. and for the first time anywhere in direct association with rates of elevated blood lead levels in children.
