Examination of the effects of 50 ppB copper on the black abalone, Haliotis cracherodii

Technical Report · Thu Oct 25 04:00:00 EDT 1979

OSTI ID:5413719

Yaffe, P L

The short-term uptake of copper by the black abalone, Haliotis cracherodii, was studied to determine the toxic effects of copper on these animals. Radioactive copper-64 was used as a tracer in both a control aquarium, which contained seawater with the natural background level of 5 ppB copper, and an experimental aquarium, which contained the same seawater plus an additional 50 ppB copper as copper sulfate. A total of 18 abalone were used, 9 in each aquarium. Three abalone were removed and dissected at each sampling time. The data obtained from two analytical methods were compared to identify trends of copper accumulation in certan tissues. The most likely cause of death of abalone exposed to elevated copper concentrations (e.g., 50 ppB) is suffocation due to mucus smothering the gills. Also, abalone blood does not appear to absorb much excess copper. The kidney accumulates some copper, as does the gonad. Accumulation of copper in the gonad could have deleterious effects on the gamates. In addition, the digestive gland appears to be the organ of storage for heavy metals; this tissue can accumulate copper to concentrations almost 100 times greater than in any of the other tissues.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Livermore (USA). Lawrence Livermore Lab.
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5413719
• Report Number(s): UCRL-52932
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

520200 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
560304* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology-- Invertebrates-- (-1987)
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-PLUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
BIOLOGICAL LOCALIZATION
BODY
COPPER
COPPER 64
COPPER COMPOUNDS
COPPER ISOTOPES
COPPER SULFATES
DATA
DATA FORMS
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
ECOSYSTEMS
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ELEMENTS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GONADS
GRAPHS
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
INFORMATION
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INVERTEBRATES
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
KIDNEYS
METALS
MOLLUSCS
MORTALITY
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
ORGANS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIOISOTOPES
SULFATES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
TOXICITY
TRACER TECHNIQUES
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS