Occurrence of Heavy Metals (Cd, Pb, As, Hg) in the Liver of Wild Boars in the Republic of North Macedonia

Abstract

Summary Wild boars, being a common game species, inhabit regions across Eurasia, the southern regions of Asia and certain Indonesian islands. Being omnivorous and due to their relatively long lifespan, wide distribution and a relatively high number of shot animals per annual legal hunting season, they are suitable to be biological indicators of occurrence of heavy metals. Concentrations of cadmium, lead, arsenic and mercury were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry and cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry in the livers of free-living wild boars (n = 58) from two locations in the Republic of North Macedonia. In all four examined heavy metals, no statistically significant difference between the locations was found (p > 0.05). The mean levels of heavy metals were Cd 0.391 mg/kg and 0.339 mg/kg; Pb 0.213 mg/kg and 0.204 mg/kg; Hg 0.034 mg/kg and 0.037 mg/kg; As 0.035 mg/kg and 0.029 mg/kg in the livers of boars from Bitola and Gevgelija hunting sites, respectively. Although some samples (two samples of Hg, ten samples of Cd and two samples of Pb) exceeded the legal limits, the average values for all heavy metals were far below the maximum permitted values. These findings are promising since they suggest that the ecosystem in the Republic of North Macedonia is stable concerning heavy metal pollution.