PARENT SESSION

PT12 Metals and Bioaccumulation
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Tuesday

(PT143) Uptake and elimination of cadmium in the freshwater mussel Elliptio complanata (Unionidae).

Porta, D¹, Fowle, D¹, Drouillard, K¹, Haffner, G¹, ¹ Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER) - University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

ABSTRACT- Kinetic studies on cadmium (Cd) elimination were performed with Elliptio complanata freshwater mussels. Individuals were placed in 107 L tanks coupled to a continuous R/O water flow system (>25 mL⋅min^-1) containing NaHCO₃ (150 M) as a buffer; [T = 17.4 ± 0.9 °C; pH = 7.4 ± 0.4]. No food was provided to the mussels during the course of the experiment. Mussels were exposed to Cd [50 nM] as Cd(NO₃)⋅4H₂O for 1, 7 , and 30 days. Exposed mussels were placed with internal controls in a clean tank and sampled at 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 day intervals. Cd levels for each mussel were analysed by ICP-OES on soft tissue homogenates. A linear regression of the natural logarithm of Cd uptake versus time (t) was described by the equation: Cd = 2.14 + 0.09t (R² = 0.91). Elimination results from Cd exposed (30 days) mussels [ln(Cd) = 3.50 exp(0.1/(t + 0.35)); R² = 0.83] suggested a biphasic statistical model for Cd elimination. The first compartment (first four days) elicited a fast Cd elimination rate, while the second compartment showed that experimental mussels were unable to achieve equilibrium after 32 days elimination in a flow through system.

Key words: cadmium, biomonitor, elimination, Elliptio complanata