García Muñoz, JavierCacciola, Nunzio AntonioPlazzi, FedericoMíguez Santiyán, María del PradoSoler Rodríguez, FranciscoLópez Beceiro, Ana MaríaFidalgo Álvarez, Luis EusebioMartínez Morcillo, SaloméPérez López, Marcos2026-05-212026-05-212023-11-03García-Muñoz, J., Cacciola, N.A., Plazzi, F., Míguez-Santiyán, M.P., Soler Rodríguez, F., López-Beceiro, A., Fidalgo, L.E., Martínez-Morcillo, S., & Pérez-López, M. (2023). Metal and metalloid concentrations in wild mammals from SW Europe: European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) and badger (Meles meles). Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30, 118855–118870. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-30615-4https://hdl.handle.net/10347/47336In recent years, there have been increasing ecological and global concerns associated to Potentially Toxic Elements (PTEs). Thus, the relevance of wild mammals as biomonitors has been globally recognised. In the present study, Cd, Pb, Hg, Zn and As concentrations were quantified in European hedgehog and badger inhabiting SW Europe, and cumulative trends in relation to age and sex were evaluated. Liver and kidney samples were collected, mineralised and PTE content was determined by ICP-MS. Zn was the most abundant element quantified in both organs (239 and 89.8 mg kg-1 for hedgehogs and 179 and 164 mg kg-1 dw for badgers). In hedgehogs, very high Hg concentration were quantified (4.35 and 15.5 mg kg-1 dw in liver and kidney), and Cd was the most abundant for badgers (4.70 and 7.61 mg kg-1 dw in liver and kidney). Positive correlations were observed for the concentrations of PTE in the organs of both species. Age-dependence increased only Cd concentration, with levels in adult kidneys being significantly higher. In this study, European hedgehog and badger were used as biomonitors for the determination of PTEs to provide current reference values in relatively non-polluted areas of SW Europe, and to enhance the use of these species for future ecotoxicological studies.engThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Attribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/BiomonitoringPotentially toxic elementsEuropean hedgehogEuropean badgerLiverKidneyInvestigaciónjournal article10.1007/s11356-023-30615-41614-7499open access