PARENT SESSION

PM02 Metals in the Environment: Aquatic Biological Perspectives
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Monday, 10 November 2003

(PM028) Lethal body concentration of cadmium in the oyster Crassostrea virginica from a Mexican tropical coastal lagoon.

Barrera-Escorcia, G.¹, Wong-Chang, I.², Ramírez-Romero, P.¹, Guzmán-García, X. ¹, ¹ Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, México, D.F., México² Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F., México

ABSTRACT- It was evaluated and related with corporal metal accumulation the acute effect of cadmium on Crassostrea virginica from the Mandinga Lagoon, Mexico. The bioassay was performed with oysters exposed to lethal concentrations of the metal, at 24.13°C and 22.54 ppt. During experiments, the exposed organisms accumulated from 261.20 to 508.80g/g in average. The cadmium concentrations were higher in oysters died during the experiment than in survivors. There was weight loss associated to the exposition and it was greater in survivors. The mean lethal concentration, CdLC _50-72h =24.87 mg/L, and the mean lethal body concentration, CdLBC _50-72h =502.25 g/g (4.47 mol/g), had good adjustments to the model Probit Log X. The body concentration, the bioconcentration factor and the LBC ₅₀ associated to the physicochemical parameter values, particularly salinity and temperature, could represent a useful tool in the evaluation of the cadmium adverse effects.

Key words: cadmium, lethal body concentration, oyster, Mexico