Tissue distribution of (/sup 14/C)methyl mercury in the lobster, Homarus americanus

Journal Article · Wed Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1976 · J. Toxicol. Environ. Health; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/15287397609529413· OSTI ID:7312023

Guarino, A M ^[1]; Anderson, J B; Pritchard, J B; Rall, D P

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1. National Cancer Inst., Bethesda, MD

(/sup 14/C) Methyl mercury was administered to lobsters by three different routes: intravascular (iv) injection, ingestion, and absorption from the ambient water. After iv administration (0.1 mg/kg) (/sup 14/C) methyl mercury was rapidly removed from the plasma, followed by slow loss from the hepatopancreas and a strikingly persistent increase in the amount of radioactivity in the tail muscle. Most (80 to 90 percent) of the radioactivity in the hepatopancreas was shown by TLC methods to be the parent compound, and approximately 10 percent of this persisted for 6 days after injection. The half-life in this organ was found to be 21 days. One month after iv treatment with methyl mercury, the only organs that contained more than 0.1 ppM of this xenobiotic were egg masses, male gonads, heart, brain, intestine, and tail muscle. The half-lives for disappearance from sexual organs were greater than 1 month. After ingestion of (/sup 14/C) methyl mercury (0.1 mg/kg) in food the hepatopancreas contained most of the administered dose at 6 days (68 percent), while the stomach (10 percent), tail muscle (8 percent), and carcass (15 percent) contained less. A unique distribution pattern emerged 6 days after exposure to (/sup 14/C) methyl mercury-containing ambient water (0.1 ppM). The tail muscle contained most (50 percent) of the absorbed dose, whereas the hepatopancreas and carcass containing only 23 and 10 percent, respectively. In view of the small molecular size and high liqid solubility of methyl mercury and the lipophilic properties of the chitin-protein exoskeleton of the lobster, it is likely that significant uptake directly from the water as well as storage of absorbed methyl mercury occurred in the tail region. Residue analysis on untreated lobsters indicated that the egg masses contained the largest amount of methyl mercury (0.1 ppM). The hepatopancreas and carcass (muscle) levels were less than 0.05 ppM.

• OSTI ID: 7312023
• Journal Information: J. Toxicol. Environ. Health; (United States), Journal Name: J. Toxicol. Environ. Health; (United States) Vol. 2:1; ISSN JTEHD
• 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
ARTHROPODS
BIOLOGICAL HALF-LIFE
BIOLOGICAL LOCALIZATION
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BLOOD
BLOOD PLASMA
BODY
BODY FLUIDS
BRAIN
CARBON 14 COMPOUNDS
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
CONTAMINATION
CRUSTACEANS
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
DISTRIBUTION
ECOSYSTEMS
EGGS
ENDOCRINE GLANDS
GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT
GLANDS
GONADS
HEART
INGESTION
INJECTION
INTAKE
INTESTINES
INTRAMUSCULAR INJECTION
INTRAVENOUS INJECTION
INVERTEBRATES
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
LIPIDS
LOBSTERS
METHYLMERCURY
MUSCLES
NERVOUS SYSTEM
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC MERCURY COMPOUNDS
ORGANS
PANCREAS
PROTEINS
RADIOACTIVITY
SKIN ABSORPTION
TISSUE DISTRIBUTION
UPTAKE