Abstract
In Kabwe town in the Republic of Zambia, heavy metal pollution has been widespread due to lead and zinc mining activities since the early 20th, and it continues even after the official cessation of industrial operation in 1994. In addition to soil, high concentrations of lead have been detected in humans, domestic animals, and wild rodents (Yabe et al. 2015, Nakata et al. 2017, Nakayama et al. 2011).
We employed a species of wild lizards (Trachylepis wahlbergii) as a target organism for biomonitoring focusing on land use patterns. This species was considered to be suitable because they live in relatively small home ranges, they only prey on insects, and they are widely distributed from residential areas to grasslands.
An initial field survey was conducted in 2017 to collect the lizards and soil of their habitat. Liver and other organs were collected from 224 lizards. Metal analysis of lizard and soil samples was performed by ICP-MS after acid digestion with a microwave system. The highest concentration in the liver was 200μg/g, which is much higher than the previous result in the same area using other animal species. Also, biological concentrations were relatively high in places near the mine and areas without vegetation. A follow-up survey was conducted in 2021 to further investigate the species-specificity of accumulation pattern, chronological shift, and relationship of these points with changes in land use pattern. The analytical results of 112 lizards are presented together with environmental parameters and geographical analysis.
