Full metal jacket : the accumulation of metal pollutants in the fur of platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) : how does water pollution impact a high trophic order predator?

![CDATA[Platypus play an important role in aquatic food webs in freshwater systems. The platypus diet consists of a variety of macroinvertebrates, with some platypus consuming their weight in macroinvertebrates each night. This make platypus particularly susceptible to heavy metal pollution as it is known that macroinvertebrates accumulate these metal pollutants. Platypus can potentially biomagnify heavy metals from the water column into their system via their main food source, macroinvertebrates. This study examined environmental matrices, (water and sediment) and two trophic levels (macroinvertebrates, and platypus) at three sites; one more naturalised catchment area, and two with known contamination sources in the Greater Sydney Basin, New South Wales, Australia. This study examined four different heavy metals: two essential metals (iron and zinc) and two non-essential metals (barium and aluminium), to identify if there was a difference in the concentration of these metals measured in platypus fur. Results showed that all four metals were present in all samples. Essential metals (iron and zinc) were higher concentrations in the platypus fur compared to nonessential metals (barium and aluminium). Zinc was the only metal that that was found in highest concentration in platypus fur compared to macroinvertebrates, water and sediment. Other studies of metal accumulation in mammals suggest that fur is used as an excretory method for pollutants, and only provides a fraction of the total accumulation. Analysis of platypus fur is worthy of further investigation for use as a nonlethal biomonitoring tool when assessing risk to aquatic fauna from metals pollution in aquatic ecosystems.]]