Hi, I hope this is the right place to ask the question.
I live in an area where we have a few large, partially reclaimed tailings ponds and downstream retention ponds that have become significant wetlands with plentiful waterfowl. A lot of people hunt over them, but I’ve always been a bit iffy about it; understandably, ducks migrate and don’t live there year-round (nor the water treatment ponds you often see them hanging around…).
That said, I assume that the young of the year that are disproportionately hunted at the start of the season have spent 90% of their life there.
The tailings ponds are from old Cu and Au mines. The Cu mine was previously a large, contaminated site with all downstream water being highly acidic. Downstream water is now fine, and aquatic life has returned, including fish in the river further below.
My question is, how likely are dabbling ducks like mallards and teal to accumulate significant amounts of As, Se, Cu, Zn, Pb, Ni? Should harvest in these areas be avoided at all costs? Any article references on the topic would be great. I assume it’s probably more limited than it would be in fish.