Distribution of palladium, platinum and rhodium in birds of prey

Three of the platinum group elements (PGE); palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), and rhodium (Rh) are emitted in the exhaust gas from automobile catalysts (Moldovan et al. 2002). Resulting increasing environmental concentrations of these PGE have led to a concern over their environmental impact and potential bioaccumulation. A clear link has been established between the increasing use of automobile catalysts and increasing environmental PGE concentrations (Rauch and Hemond 2003; Barbante et al. 2004; Rauch et al. 2004a). However, the extent of PGE contamination in the biosphere, especially the fauna, is poorly documented. The dynamics of these metals in animals at upper trophic levels has recently started to be investigated (Sures et al. 2001; Zimmermann et al. 2002), but to date, there are no studies on the PGE contamination of free-living animals at the top of food chains. This article presents literature on the area of PGE bioavailability and bioaccumulation, and results from research on PGE distribution in free-living birds of prey.