Physiological background for using freshwater mussels in monitoring copper and lead pollution

Abstract

In studying the effect of copper (10 ± 0.57 µg Cu l⁻¹ and 100 ± 3.01 µg Cu l⁻¹) and lead (50 ± 1.12 µg Pb l⁻¹ and 500 ± 12.5 µg Pb l⁻¹) on the filtration activity of Anodonta cygnea L. it was found that both heavy metals resulted in significant shortening of the active periods, but little change occurred in the length of the rest periods. The concentrations of copper and lead were measured in the gill, foot, mantle, adductor muscle and kidney for 840 hours of exposure to 10.9 ± 5 µg Cu l⁻¹ and 57.0 ± 19 µg Pb l⁻¹ as well as during subsequent depuration. Uptake was observed after 72 hours of exposure. The highest copper concentration (59.1 ± 16.2 µg Cu g⁻¹) was measured at 672 h in the mantle, and the highest lead value (143 ± 26.1 µg Pb⁻¹) was obtained in the kidney. Depuration of copper was fastest from the foot, and from the adductor muscle for lead. The gill had the longest half-depuration time (> 840 h for copper and > 672 h for lead).