ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that global pollution by heavy metals is most likely to arise with lead, mercury, and cadmium. Relative to natural emissions, anthropogenic inputs of these elements are high and atmospheric transport may be followed by deposition far from industrial sites. Since cadmium tends to accumulate to high concentrations in kidney tissue. An initial investigation into the relationship between organic and inorganic feather mercury has revealed that organic mercury represents about 100% of the total mercury level. Lead has been shown to accumulate to relatively high concentrations in bone and teeth of marine vertebrates. Other similarly hard and relatively stable tissues, such as horns and antlers, are likely to show a similar pattern. The chapter reviews papers that have used historical biological material to assess time trends in metal levels in the environment, either to detect instances of local pollution or to seek evidence for global trends.
