<
https://theconversation.com/how-a-little-brown-bird-could-sound-the-alarm-on-lead-poisoning-in-australian-children-232000>
"Recent public health threats such as COVID, and the current bird flu outbreak
in Victoria, show we can’t separate human health from the natural environment.
Our research examining the link between lead exposure in house sparrows and
children is another sobering reminder of this shared health burden.
Birds have long been considered sentinels for environmental health – hence the
proverbial “canary in the coal mine”. Urban sparrows are particularly useful
sentinels, because they tend to live in the same places as humans.
Our study focused on the lead-mining cities of Broken Hill in New South Wales
and Mount Isa in Queensland, where lead exposure in children is a major health
concern.
We found blood-lead levels in sparrows were a predictable indicator of
blood-lead levels in children. The findings demonstrate the importance of
paying attention to the health of the environment and the animals around us."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
