Walrus teeth as biomonitors of trace elements in Arctic marine ecosystems

Exploring the Use of SEM–EDS Analysis to Measure the Distribution of Major, Minor, and Trace Elements in Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Teeth

“…Except for Al, we did not observe any other trace elements; therefore, we could not examine how contaminants changed over time within the lifespan of an individual or temporally across the decades among individuals. While technologies with lower detection limits (e.g., LA-ICP-MS) may be required to explore the presence and distribution of trace elements in bottlenose dolphin teeth, the information provided in the current study will be valuable to other analyses such as LA-ICP-MS that rely on an Ca as an internal standard [10][11][12]52]. Further, for some elements reported in this study (e.g., O, P, C, and Cl), it is either not possible or very challenging to analyze using LA-ICP-MS; therefore, SEM-EDS can serve as a complementary analysis [53].…”

“…Further, in contrast to most terrestrial mammals, which are diphyodonts and produce two sets of teeth (deciduous and permanent), dolphins are monophyodonts and develop only one set of teeth [1,[5][6]. In marine mammals, teeth grow incrementally, and once incorporated within the tooth structure, major [e.g., calcium (C), phosphorous (P)], minor [e.g., chlorine (Cl) magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na)], and trace elements [e.g., cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn)] remain unaltered, thereby reflecting an organism's physiology, ambient environmental conditions, dietary intake, and exposure to trace elements including contaminants [e.g., Cd, chromium (Cr), Pb, Hg] [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. The chemical composition of teeth and the spatial distribution of major and minor elements within teeth influences tooth function [18][19].…”

Further investigation of lead exposure as a potential threatening process for a scavenging marsupial species

“…In contrast, soft tissues, such as the liver, are the primary areas of initial lead redistribution from the blood and reflect medium‐term lead exposure over 3–6 months 16 . Finally, bone and teeth store lead throughout the life of the animal and can be used as indicators of cumulative long‐term lead exposure over an animal's entire lifetime 15,26 . In the aforementioned study on Tasmanian devils, only blood samples were used, and therefore only recent lead exposure was able to be evaluated 19 …”

“…16 Finally, bone and teeth store lead throughout the life of the animal and can be used as indicators of cumulative long-term lead exposure over an animal's entire lifetime. 15,26 In the aforementioned study on Tasmanian devils, only blood samples were used, and therefore only recent lead exposure was able to be evaluated. 19 The potential for harmful lead exposure in threatened mammal species via the ammunition route is particularly concerning in Australia for three main reasons.…”

Correlation of phosphorus level with macro- and microelements in the bristles of Landrace pigs

“…Increasingly, nails, hair, hoof horn, teeth are used as a biological substrate for assessing the level of chemical elements in humans and animals and for biomonitoring. structures that can be archives of concentrations of macro-and microelements [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. As for the derivatives of the skin, the ability to keratinize preserves the chemical elements in keratin, thereby isolating them from the metabolic processes taking place in the body at the moment.…”