Accumulation and Effects of Organotin Compounds in Oysters and Mussels: Correlation with Serum Biochemical and Cytological Factors and Tissue Burdens

Abstract

Oysters and mussels exposed to a concentration of 0-7 ppb microgram/ liter from painted panels in flowing seawater accumulated tin in the digestive glands to comparable levels. The mussels experienced approximately 50% mortality during the 60-day test period, but the oysters suffered virtually no deaths. There was no evidence from either bivalve of elevated numbers of hemocytes during the test period and no evidence for cellular disruption as detected by increased levels of serum lysosomal hydrolases. Serum protein of exposed mussels relative to controls increased with time of exposure to the toxicant, while oyster serum protein, normally 10 x higher than in mussels, did not. No evidence was found for elevated stress proteins (heat shock proteins) or metallothioneins in the serum hemocytes of either bivalve. Responses by these animals to fatal or near fatal doses of TBT were thus very different from responses to copper that we have reported elsewhere. Keywords: Water pollution; Biological absorption; Reprints.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1988
Accession Number
ADA208230

Entities

People

  • George V. Pickwell
  • Scott A. Steinert

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Animal Structures
  • Biology
  • Blood
  • Blood Proteins
  • Cell Count
  • Cells
  • Chemical Compounds
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemistry
  • Civil Engineering
  • Computer Science
  • Corporations
  • Ecology
  • Hemocytes
  • Marine Biology
  • Organometallic Compounds

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Immunology
  • Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry
  • Surface Coatings Technology.