Application of Columba livia Feather as a Bioindicator of Industrial Pollution

Abstract In developing countries, the use of bioindicators could be a good way to transmit pollutants to the environment. In this study, the accumulation of heavy metals such as lead, zinc and cadmium in Columba livia feathers in males and females and live and dead species inside in the Industrial town of Zinc-Zanjan and comparison with control species outside the industrial town were studied. The feathers of 164 pigeons were collected and dissolved by chemical digestion method. In this study, heavy metals were measured by the avanta GBC atomic absorption device. The mean concentrations of lead, zinc and cadmium were determined greater in dead female pigeons, dead male pigeons, live female pigeons, and live male pigeons respectively. This was also the case with the control species. Statistical analysis of data was performed with SAS software. (P ≤ 0.05, 95% confidence level) and (P ≤ 0.01, 99% confidence level) were considered as significant differences. The results of statistical tests in the samples inside in the Industrial town of Zinc-Zanjan showed that there is a significant statistical relationship between gender and live and dead bird and elements of lead, zinc and cadmium, while for the control species outside industrial town were different. Significant levels of heavy metals in bird feathers indicate their usefulness as a non-invasive tool to show the concentration of metals in pigeons to control the level of pollution in the environment. The present study showed that Columba livia had suitable biological characteristics for use as a bioindicator of industrial pollution.