Examination of the content of heavy metals using hair samples in dogs of urban areas of Macedonia

Abstract

Dogs can be very good indicators for the environmental pollution. They share the same environment as humans and are exposed to action of the same pollutants. Contamination of the environment with heavy metals is performed by emissions of different origin, especially present in the urban areas. That is why it was great advantage to analyze the heavy metal levels in dogs from several urban areas in Macedonia. The objectives of this study were examination and analyzing the content of two heavy metals: cadmium and lead in dogs. For these purposes dog's hair samples were used. Samples were collected from 35 dogs from different localities. They were analyzed using the method of atomic absorption spectrometry. Statistical data processing was performed. Mean lead level in the hair samples from Veles, Bitola and Prilep were: 930.15, 715.66 and 525.63 μg/kg; while for cadmium were: 54.28, 42.65 and 27.82 μg/kg respectively. According to reference intervals for hair elements all the values are in normal ranges (for Cd <100 μg/kg, and for Pb<2000 μg/kg). Comparison of the results between these areas showed significance in arithmetic means (<0.05) between Veles and Prilep for Pb and absolute significance (<0.001) in arithmetic means for Cd between Veles and Prilep. The study presents the need for further research in this area, using dogs as bioindicators.