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Sparrows may be 'canary in the coal mine' for lead poisoning in children: study
Sparrows are often considered pests, but a new study suggests lead levels in the birds' blood could indicate if children in mining towns have been exposed to high levels of the poisonous chemical.
Just as people used canaries to detect toxic conditions in coal mines, researchers found the house sparrow ( Passer domesticus) could sound the alarm on lead exposure in children. To determine if the birds could be used as a monitoring tool for environmental pollution on a neighbourhood scale, Professor Griffith and his team collected blood lead samples from hundreds of sparrows captured at more than 40 sites in Broken Hill. The Macquarie University environmental scientist and PhD candidate said collecting blood samples from people, especially children, can be difficult to conduct, and can raise significant logistical and ethical issues.
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