skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Bioaccumulation of four heavy metals in two populations of grass shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio

Journal Article · · Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol.; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01699958· OSTI ID:5596034

Bioaccumulation can occur only if the rate of uptake of a chemical by an organism exceeds its rate of elimination. Many aquatic animals are able to excrete a greater proportion of their intake under contaminated conditions and thus maintain trace metal concentration in the body at an approximately normal level. The biological activity or the metabolic rate of an organism often changes due to natural seasonal variations causing the rate of incorporation and release of heavy metals to change. This paper reports on the comparative bioaccumulation of Hg, Cd, Cu, and Zn in two populations of grass shrimp, Palaemontes pugio, one of the few species surviving in highly contaminated estuaries in northern New Jersey. One population they studied was from Piles Creek (PC), a tributary of the Arthur Kill in heavily industrialized Linden, New Jersey, and the other population was from Big Sheepshead Creek (BSC), a relatively pristine creek near non-industrialized Tuckerton, New Jersey.

Research Organization:
Rutgers Univ., Newark, NJ (USA)
OSTI ID:
5596034
Journal Information:
Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol.; (United States), Vol. 42:3
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English