Summary of eggshell metal concentrations.

House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) may serve as suitable species to monitor persistent environmental contaminants, like heavy metals, that pose serious health risks to humans and wildlife alike. Avian eggshells have the potential to be used as indicators of environmental contaminants since these can alter many chemical pathways, including those involved in forming and depositing avian eggshell pigmentation. Here we tested House Sparrow eggs for heavy metals and examined whether eggshell pigmentation predicted heavy metal concentrations. As part of the citizen science project, Sparrow Swap, volunteers across the United States collected 536 clutches, totaling 2,182 House Sparrow eggs. We then tested whether metal concentrations were predicted by coloration and speckling of these eggs or eggshell thickness and calcium concentration. We found that metals, including As, Se, Cd, Cu, and Pb, were present in detectable levels in House Sparrow eggs from across the country. Although eggshell characteristics were not strong predictors of metal concentrations, metal concentrations in the eggshells were higher than expected and warrant further investigation.

家麻雀（Passer domesticus）可作为适宜的监测物种，用于监测对人类与野生生物均构成严重健康风险的持久性环境污染物（如重金属）。鸟类蛋壳可作为环境污染物的生物指示剂，因为污染物能够干扰诸多化学通路，其中包括参与鸟类蛋壳色素合成与沉积的通路。本研究隶属于公民科学项目"Sparrow Swap"，美国境内的志愿者共收集了536窝卵，总计2182枚家麻雀卵。随后我们针对这些卵的颜色、斑点特征，或是蛋壳厚度与钙浓度是否可预测金属浓度展开了检验。研究结果显示，包括砷（As）、硒（Se）、镉（Cd）、铜（Cu）以及铅（Pb）在内的金属，在全美各地的家麻雀卵中均达到可检测水平。尽管蛋壳特征并非金属浓度的强预测因子，但蛋壳内的金属浓度高于预期，值得开展进一步研究。