Premium
Dose‐dependent growth inhibition and bioaccumulation of hexavalent chromium in land snail Helix aspersa aspersa
Author(s) -
Cœurdassier Michaël,
Vaufleury Annette Gomotde,
Badot PierreMarie
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.5620191025
Subject(s) - bioaccumulation , toxicity , ec50 , hexavalent chromium , biology , snail , helix (gastropod) , toxicology , gastropoda , environmental chemistry , ecotoxicology , bioassay , biomphalaria glabrata , chromium , zoology , chemistry , ecology , biochemistry , in vitro , helminths , organic chemistry , schistosomiasis , schistosoma mansoni
The toxicity of Cr 6+ was determined in a laboratory environment in the snail Helix aspersa aspersa . The effects on growth were evaluated on animals reared in controlled conditions at the age of one month that had been exposed for 28 d to increasing doses of Cr 6+ mixed in with their food. Two experimental groups were set up with concentrations of chromium in the feed of 250 to 1,250 μg/g (test 1) and 100 to 800 μg/g (test 2). Growth inhibition was dose dependent, and the mean EC50 calculated at four weeks for tests 1 and 2 were, respectively, 354.7 and 298.8 μg/g and for the EC10 195.3 and 160.9 μg/g. The levels of Cr 6+ bioaccumulated in the foot and the viscera of the snails were dose dependent in both types of tissues. The highest concentrations occurred in the viscera, the levels being 0.79 μg/g in the controls and reaching 3,067 μg/g in the animals exposed to the maximum contamination (1,250 μg/g). These high levels of bioaccumulation in addition to the lower concentrations of Cr 6+ excreted in the feces than those present in the food suggest that chromium is not physiologically regulated by Helix aspersa. The results provide added support for the use of snails as a model to determine the toxicity of substances in laboratory biotests by measuring the effects on growth and by assessing bioaccumulation.