Aquatic biota cadmium

Sublethal effects of cadmium to selected species of aquatic biota... 

Sublethal effects in birds are similar to those in other species and include growth retardation, anemia, renal effects, and testicular damage (Hammons et al. 1978 Di Giulio et al. 1984 Blus et al. 1993). However, harmful damage effects were observed at higher concentrations when compared to aquatic biota. For example, Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) fed 75 mg Cd/kg diet developed bone marrow hypoplasia, anemia, and hypertrophy of both heart ventricles at 6 weeks (Richardson et al. 1974). In zinc-deficient diets, effects were especially pronounced and included all of the signs mentioned plus testicular hypoplasia. A similar pattern was evident in cadmium-stressed quail on an iron-deficient diet. In all tests, 1% ascorbic acid in the diet prevented cadmium-induced effects in Japanese quail (Richardson et al. 1974). In studies with Japanese quail at environmentally relevant concentrations of 10 pg Cd/kg B W daily (for 4 days, administered per os), absorbed cadmium was transported in blood in a form that enhanced deposition in the kidney less than 0.7% of the total administered dose was recovered from liver plus kidneys plus duodenum (Scheuhammer 1988). 

Table 1.5 Sublethal Effects of Cadmium to Selected Species of Aquatic Biota... 

Florence, T.M. (1977) Trace metal species in fresh waters. Water Res., 11, 681-687. Florence, T.M. (1982) Development of physicochemical speciation procedures to investigate the toxicity of copper, lead, cadmium and zinc towards aquatic biota. Anal. Chim. Acta, 141, 73-94. 

Cadmium, unlike synthetic compounds, is a naturally occurring element, and its presence has been detected in more than 1000 species of aquatic and terrestrial flora and fauna. At least six trends are evident from these data. First, marine biota generally contain significantly higher cadmium... 

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