Introduction:
Any chemical having high density and proves to be toxic or poisonous at low concentration is termed as heavy metal. For example lead (Pb) mercury (Hg) thallium (TI) chromium (Cr) Cadmium (Cd) and Arsenic (Ar).
The main cause of heavy metal contamination are industries, agriculture and mining activities. Unlike many other pollutant in the environment, heavy metals are persistent, ubiquitous and non-biodegradable. Heavy metals enter into the food chain through uptake by plants and ingestion by the animals. The fraction which is assimilated will accumulate in various body organs or be metabolized, maternally transferred to their eggs or offspring or excreted through feces, eventually posing a serious health risk to inhabitants of an ecosystem, including humans. If organisms are unable…show more content… Rock pigeon (Columba livia) are more salient features of avifauna belongs to the order Columbiformes of the family Columbidae. Pigeons are monogamous, non-seasonal breeders and well known for their bi parental care of eggs and fed young ones by high energy crop secretion called as pigeon milk (Azeem and Azeem 2010). They feed not only on grain, green leaves and invertebrates, but also on the goodies that people provide such as bread crumbs, popcorn, peanuts and cake. Individuals may sample several feeding sites, and they might even settle temporarily in an area should the availability of food be especially good.
Pigeons have been extensively used to monitor heavy metal pollution (Hutton and Goodman 1980; Nam and Lee 2006; Schilderman et al. 1997). However, heavy metals pollution in tissues of pigeon has become an important concern worldwide, not only because of the threat to tissues of pigeon, but also due to the health risks associated with tissues of pigeon consumption. Therefore, the problem of heavy metal contamination in tissues of pigeon is increasing global