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Mercury in hare tissues Lepus europaeus Pallas in polluted and unpolluted areas

The aim of this study was to quantify the concentration of total mercury in tissues of hares Lepus europaeas Pallas, that are used as bioindicators of environmental pollution by heavy metals due to the complete integration of the biotope. The study conducted during 2010, included two study groups of hares, one from a polluted and the other from an unpolluted area. The polluted area was located near the largest natural gas production and treatment plant Molve, in Croatia. Their organs (brain, muscle, liver and kidney) were analysed for total mercury concentration using advanced mercury analyser AMA 254 (Leco, USA). The range of the median mercury concentration values in hare organs from the polluted area were (0.022 to 0.102) μg g-1 d. w., (0.013 to 0.046) μg g-1 d. w., (0.058 to 0.189) μg g-1 d. w., and (0.138 to 0.406) μg g-1 d. w. for the brain, muscle, liver, and kidney, respectively. The range of the median mercury concentration values in hare organs from the unpolluted area were [(0.017 to 0.040), (0.006 to 0.022), (0.011 to 0.031), and (0.019 to 0.223)] μg g-1 d. w. for the brain, muscle, liver, and kidney, respectively. The concentration of total mercury was signifi cantly higher in the liver (p=0.012) and kidney (p=0.022) of hares from contaminated areas than in the liver and kidney of hares from the unpolluted area. When comparing the results obtained in this study with the results published in the available literature on mercury concentration in hare’s tissue, it can be concluded that the polluted area investigated in this research belongs to low mercury-contaminated area.

bioindicator; brain; kidney; liver; muscle; mercury concentration

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