Seasonal Variation in Dietary and Body Organ Arsenic Concentrations in Wood Mice Apodemus sylvaticus and Bank Voles Clethrionomys glareolus

Abstract

Some of the most arsenic polluted sites in the world are located in south-west England, and in particular in the areas adjacent to the Dartmoor granitic extrusion (Colbourn et al. 1975). In general, these are abandoned mine sites, most of which ceased working around the end of the last century. The most contaminated areas are in the Tamar Valley and have soil arsenic concentrations that can exceed 50,000 μg g -1 d.wt. (Kavanagh et al. 1997).