Persistent heavy metals (e.g. Hg, Pb, Cd) in the environment can accumulate during the food-chain in those higher animal species which were not directly exposed by the xenobiotics. Considerable concentration and accumulation of the environmental pollutants in the organisms may be realised due to the biomagnification. Heavy metal concentration of a geographical area can be characterised by the results from bird?s tissues because they are found at higher level of the food-chain, they capture the food from large area and they also live in more contaminated region such as watery habitat. To determination of heavy metal burden of birds feathers will be basically collected. Initially, the investigation will be performed at the region of Balaton by the collection of feathers from living animals and/or tissue samples (liver, kidney, muscle) from dead birds. The species, age and body weight of the animals will be determined. The measurement of heavy metal content of the biological samples will be analysed by atomic absorption spectrometry or other suitable analytical methods. Based on the results, conclusions will be drawn between the influencing effect of body size, geographical location and position in food-chain of birds, and the heavy metal content. During the health risk assessment, the sublethal harmful effect of heavy metal content of bird?s tissues will be evaluated which can modify the behaviour of birds and can induce reproductive and other problems.
During the further investigations, other bird species and their environment will be monitored at other region of Hungary.