Sudden Cadmium Increases in the Digestive Gland of Scallop, Nodipecten nodosus L., Farmed in the Tropics

Abstract

Cadmium bioaccumulation in Nodipecten nodosus reared on a marine farm in a tropical bay was measured in muscle tissue and the digestive glands in animals ranging from 6 to 16 months. No bioaccumulation tendencies regarding Cd concentration were observed in muscle tissue (below 1 μg g⁻¹), while in the digestive gland concentrations remained below 5 μg g⁻¹ until the organisms reached 10 months, and reached levels above 10 μg g⁻¹ from 12 months onwards (reaching 27 μg g⁻¹). This is the same bioaccumulation pattern noted in animals transplanted to a different Cd exposure. Allometry and environmental factors cannot explain this sudden increase.

Bioavailability of Metals at a Southeastern Brazilian Coastal Area of High Environmental Concern Under Anthropic Influence: Evaluation Using Transplanted Bivalves (Nodipecten nodosus) and the DGT Technique

“…No significant differences were observed between the concentrations of metals determined in the tissues of the transplanted bivalves in the winter and summer campaigns. High Cd concentration has been previously measured in bivalves collected in the same farm (Francioni et al 2004;Galvão et al 2010) and because of this pre-exposure, the data for Cd were not compared with other studies/areas.…”

“…Despite its importance, there are very few data on the bioaccumulation of metals in these organisms. Galvão et al (2010) evaluated the cadmium bioaccumulation in some organs of N. nodosus from IGB, showing high bioaccumulation in the digestive glands.…”