Revista Internacional de Contaminacin Ambiental

Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico

rvp@atmosfera.unam.mx
ISSN (Versin impresa): 0188-4999
MXICO




2005
Guadalupe Barrera Escorcia / Irma Wong Chang
MEAN LETHAL BODY CONCENTRATION OF CADMIUM IN CRASSOSTREA
VIRGINICA FROM A MEXICAN TROPICAL COASTAL LAGOON
Revista Internacional de Contaminacin Ambiental, ao/vol. 21, nmero 002
Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico
Distrito Federal, Mxico
pp. 55-62




Red de Revistas Cientficas de Amrica Latina y el Caribe, Espaa y Portugal
Universidad Autnoma del Estado de Mxico
http://redalyc.uaemex.mx

Rev.Int.Contam.Ambient.21(2)5562,2005
MEAN LETHAL BODY CONCENTRATI ON OF CADMIUM IN Cr assostrea virginica
FROM A MEXICAN TROPICAL COASTAL LAGOON
Guadalupe BARRERAESCORCIA
1
e Irma WONGCHANG
2
1
DepartamentodeHidrobiologa,UAM,ApartadoPostal55535,Iztapalapa09340,Mxico,D.F.Estudiantedel
ProgramadeDoctorado enCienciasBiolgicas,UAM. Correoelectrnico:gube@xanum.uam.mx
2
InstitutodeCienciasdelMaryLimnologa,UNAM,Mxico,ApartadoPostal70305,Coyoacn04510,Mxico,
D.F.
(Recibido octubre 2004, aceptado enero 2005)
Keywords: oyster,metals,bioconcentration,Mandingalagoon
ABSTRACT
Theacuteeffectofcadmiumon CrassostreavirginicafromtheMandingaLagoon,
Mxico,wasevaluatedandrelatedtocorporalmetalaccumulation.Thebioassaywas
performedwithoystersexposedtolethalCdconcentrations,attemperatureof24.13C
andsalinity of22.54.Theexposedorganismsaccumulatedfrom261.20to508.80
mgCd/gdryweightinaverage.Themetalincorporatedinorganismsexposedtothe
highestCdconcentrationwassuperiorinoysterswhichdiedduringtheexperiment,
thaninsurvivors.HoweverbiococentrationfactorwaslowerinthehighestCdconcen
trations. There was weight loss associated to the exposition and it was greater in
survivors.Deteriorationcouldberelatedtoagreatermetabolicefforttocompensatethe
entranceofCd.Themeanlethalconcentration,CdLC
5072h
=24.87mg/L,andthemean
lethalbodyconcentration,CdLBC
5072h
=502.25 mg/g(4.47 mmol/g),hadgoodadjust
mentstotheProbitmodel.Thebodyconcentration,thebioconcentrationfactorandthe
LBC
50
associatedtothephysicalandchemicalparametervalues,particularlysalinity
andtemperature,couldconstituteusefultoolsintheevaluationofthecadmiumad
verseeffectsinMexicancoastalareas.
Palabrasclave: ostin,metales,bioconcentracin,lagunadeMandinga
RESUMEN
Seevaluelefectoagudodelcadmioen Crassostreavirginica delalagunadeMandin
gayfuerelacionadoconlaacumulacincorporaldelmetal.Elbioensayofuellevadoa
caboconostionesexpuestosaconcentracionesletalesdeCd a temperaturade24.13Cy
salinidadde22.54 .Losorganismosexpuestosacumularonde261.20a508.80 mgCd/
g de peso seco en promedio. La acumulacin del metal en ostiones expuestos a la
concentracinmsaltadeCd,fuesuperiorenlosostionesmuertosduranteelexperi
mento,queenlossobrevivientes.Sinembargo,elfactordebioconcentracinfuemenor
enlasmayoresconcentracionesdeCd.Huboprdidadepesoasociadaalaexposicin
y stafuemayorenlossobrevivientes.Eldeterioropodrarelacionarseconunmayor
esfuerzometablicoparacompensarlaentradadeCd.Laconcentracinletalmedia
CLCd
5072h
=24.87mg/LylaconcentracincorporalletalmediaCCLCd
5072h
=502.25mg/g
G.BarreraEscorciaeI.WongChang 56
(4.47 mmol/g),tuvieronbuenajustealmodeloProbit.Laconcentracincorporal,el
factor de bioconcentracin y la CCL
50
asociadas a los valores de los parmetros
fisicoqumicos,particularmentealasalinidadyalatemperaturapuedenconstituirhe
rramientastilesenlaevaluacindelosefectosadversosdelcadmioenreascosteras
mexicanas.
INTRODUCTION
Metals are widely recognized as toxic agents and
their effects have been evaluated in many species
includingmollusks(EPS1990,Pawlisz etal. 1997).
Cadmium adverse effects has been studied in mus
selsandoystersduetoitstoxicityandbecausemol
lusksarepotentiallyusefulasbiomonitors(Ruelas
Inzunzaand PezOsuna2000).Recentlysomeau
thorsconsiderthatmetalconcentrationsinbiotaare
better indicator of potential biological impact than
concentrations in the environment because differ
encesinmetalbioavailabilityareautomaticallytaken
intoaccount(Borgmann2000).Thebioavailablefrac
tion constitutes the greatest danger to biota (Soto
Jimnez et al. 2001). Cadmium concentrations are
increased in several coastal lagoons of the Gulf of
Mxico(VillanuevaandBotello1998).Thepresence
ofCdinmarinesedimentfluctuatesfrom<1mg/kg,
inrelativelypristineenvironments,to>31mg/kgin
contaminated areas (Sadiq 1992) high values de
tected in polluted rivers are associated to organic
matterandindustrialcomplexes,andCdiseasilydis
tributedinaquaticecosystemsbecauseitsgreatsolu
bility(VillanuevaandPez1996).TheMandingala
goon(19001906Nand96029606W)atthe
Veracruz State (Contrerasand Castaeda 1995), is
atypicaltropical coastallagoon witha relativeim
pact of human activities. There is not a punctual
sourceofCdinMandingalagoon,butwaterconcen
trationisoverthelimits,sedimentcontentwas0.015
mgCd/g dry weight (Rosas et al. 1983) and 1.22
mgCd/gdryweight(Botello1994),andoysterscon
tentsvariedfrom1.54 mgCd/gdryweight(Rosaset
al.1983)to3.13mgCd/g dryweight(Villanuevay
Botello 1998). In that manner, Cd represents a po
tentialrisk tobiotainthe lagoon.Thisis shelterof
speciesastheoyster Crassostreavirginica that rep
resentsanimportantfisheryresourceformanycom
munities (PalaciosFest and VargasRangel 2002).
Thereisknowledgeabouttheoystersensibilityaccli
matedtotemperaturesas16 Cor24C(Shumway
1996),exposedtodifferentsubstancesincludingcad
mium (Roesijadi 1996). However, C. virginica in a
tropicalenvironmentasMandingalagoon,livesamong
28Cand33C,andacclimationtemperatureisas
sociated tothe physiological responses.In Mxico,
studiesontheaccumulationandtheaquacultureas
pectsforitscommercialexploitationhavebeenmade
(SecretaradePesca1988).Themanagementofthe
speciesusuallyinvolvesthefertilizationinfarmsand
theposteriorintroductionofjuvenilesinthelagoons.
However,littleisknownaboutitsresponsestoenvi
ronmentaltoxicagents.
Thereforetheaimofthisstudywastoassessthe
lethal effect of cadmium on the oyster Crassostrea
virginica fromaMexicantropicalcoastallagoonand
itsrelationshipwiththebodyconcentration.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Oyster collection andmaintenance in labor ator y
Commercialsizedoysters(>5cmlength)samples
were collected in the months of September 1997,
November 1997, and September 1998 in the
MandingaLagoon.Measurementsinsituincluded:
dissolvedoxygen(0.01 0.005mg/L),temperature
(0.1 0.05C),pH(0.01 0.005unities)andsalin
ity(0.1 0.05 ) withaHoribaU10multianalyzer.
Oysterswere transportedinplastic bagsat4 Cto
the laboratory where the epibiontes were removed
accordingtoEaton etal. (1995).Oystersweremain
tained ina closed recirculated aquaria system (600
L)providedwithcharcoalanthraciteandbiological
filters, with Instant Ocean artificial saline water
(ShumwayandKoehn1982).Temperaturewasmain
tained at 25 1 C and aeration kept constant (>5
mg/Lofdissolvedoxygen),salinitywasadjustedata
ratioof0.5 perdayuntiltheassaysalinity(22)
wasreached. Tetraselmissuecica, cultivatedinGillard
f2 medium was supplied as food, 15 to 20 X 10
6
cells per day per organism (Castrejn et al. 1994)
during thefive weeks of themaintenance period.
Toxicit y test s
Semistatic168hbioassayswereconductedinten
aquaria of glass, with a volume of 40 L.Aeration
keptconstant,temperaturewascontrolledwithther
mostatto 25 1C.Waterwaspreparedto22 ,
CONCENTRATION OF CADMIUM IN Crassotrea virginica 57
24hbefore,toinsurethesamesalinityandpHinthe
aquaria.Duringtheassayphysicalchemicalparam
eters were recorded daily. Oysters were selected
morphometricallyhomogeneouswith68.9mmlength
9.0standarddeviation(SD),41.3gtotalweight
7.92SD,andwithagoodConditionIndex(CI)
of 101.7 g/mL, calculated as (dry weight X 1000/
shell) cavity volume (Walne 1984), using eight or
ganismsperconcentration,induplicate.Feedingwas
suspended 24 h before the assay started. Oysters
wereexposedto:5.75,13.05,18.85and30.50mg/L.
Cadmiumwas suppliedfromastocksolutionof50
g/LofCdCl
2
2H
2
O(BakerAnalyzed)inthede
sired volume to reach the experimental concentra
tions.Acontrolgroupwithoutcadmiumwasconsid
ered. Partial water exchanges, corresponding to 25
% of the water volume, were made every 48 h and
cadmiumconcentrationwasadjustedtomaintainthe
samelevel.Totalammoniumwasmeasuredaccord
ing toLind(1985)with theindophenolsbluetech
nique (sensibility of the method 2 mg/L) and main
tainedbelow0.1mg/L.Mortalitywasrecordedev
ery2hduringthefirstdayandlateronevery24h.
Deathcriterionwassetatpermanentopeningofthe
valves. Morphometry was taken after the assay
(length,totalweight,wetanddryweight).TheCIwas
calculatedin thesurvivors.Thedryweightexpected
in oysters of the same size, was calculated with the
morphometric equation obtained by Powell et al.
(1992): length (mm)
j
= dry weight (g)
j
0.317
10
0.669
anditwascomparewiththeobtaineddryweight.
Mean lethal concentration (LC
50
) and mean le
thal body concentration (LBC
50
) were established
through the Probit method using the DORES Pro
gram(Ramrez1989).TheProbittransformation(log
normal) is one of the most frequently assumed to
estimatethemortalityresponse.Itisthefittingmodel
ofthedistributionofmortalityagainstthelogofex
posureconcentration(andthetissueaccumulationin
this case),to generatea straight line (Newman and
Dixon1996).Thelineobtainedissignificantifconfi
dence limit is lower than LC
50
and positive, coeffi
cientofdeterminationissignificantwithp<0.05,co
efficient of correlation is over 0.8, coefficient of
variationisunder15%,andif c
2
observedislower
than c
2
expected (Ramrez 1989). The Bioconcen
tration Factor (BCF) was calculated as final tissue
concentration/water concentration (Buikema et al.
1982).
Cadmium measur ement s
Total cadmium was evaluated in water samples
extracted from each aquaria. They were obtained
six hoursafter theadditionof Cd whenexperiment
began, at 96 h, as well as in the end (168 h). The
waterwas digestedwith nitricacid in a microwave
oven(CEMMDS81D)attheendoftheassaythe
oysters tissue was digested according to the method
proposedbyHuan(1994).Cdconcentrationswerede
terminedbyatomicabsorptionspectrophotometerpro
vided with acetyleneair flame VarianAA20 (0.01
0.005mg/L).WatersamplesoftheCentroNacionalde
Metrologawith1.45 0.06mgCd/Lwereusedas
reference.
Statistical analysis
The analysis was performed with the Statistica
software, Statsoft Ser. 1997, to compare the initial
andfinalvalues(ttest),thedifferencesamongcon
troland exposedorganisms (ANOVA) and toasso
ciate the metal concentrations and the morphomet
ric characteristics (coefficient of correlation). The
standard deviation (SD) was obtained. The signifi
cance of the tests was p<0.05.
RESULTS
Collectedoystershadanaverageof2.30 mgCd/g
dryweight 1.11SD.Duringsamplingsinsitupa
rameters were: temperature 25.7 3.6 C, salinity
14.15 4.85 ,pH7.66,anddissolvedoxygen5.91
1.30mg/L.
Duringthebioassaytheconcentrationsinthecon
trolaquariawere0.01mgCd/Linaverage,frombe
low thedetection levelto0.01 mgCd/L.Thephysi
cochemical parameters were: temperature 24.1 C
0.6SD,salinity22.5 0.6SD,pH8.33 0.30
SD, and dissolved oxygen 3.93 mg/L 1.17 SD.
The ammonium concentration was 0.019 mg/L
0.009SDatthebeginningoftheassay,itincreased
to 0.087 mg/L 0.023 SD at the end of experi
ment. The physicochemical properties in aquaria
were controlled during the maintenance, and they
were similar induplicatesduringtheexperimental
period.Inthatmanner,dataofduplicateswerecon
sidered together (16 organisms per concentration)
to make theanalysis.
TheCIincontroloystersdiminishedfrom101.7
g/mLto48.1g/mLasresultofthestarvation.TheCI
ofexposedorganismswasnotdeterminatedbecause
thesurvivorsdidnotclosethevalvaecompletelyand
theirintervalvaeliquidwaslost.Inalltheorganisms
total,wetanddryweightdiminished,buttheexposed
oystersweightwaslowerthancontrols(Fig.1).The
expected dry weight calculated for oysters of the
G.BarreraEscorciaeI.WongChang 58
same size was 1.71g. After the assay dry weight
was 1.11 g 0.46 SD in the control oysters and it
was0.84g 0.25SDintheexposedorganisms.The
lossrepresents,inaverage30%incontrols,and50%
inexposedorganisms.Theincreaseofcadmiumcon
centrationintissuepresentedsignificantinverserela
tionshipwiththetotal,wetanddryweight(r=0.48,
r = 0.34 and r = 0.35, respectively). In addition,
there wasan importantloss weight insurvivors, pro
portionaltothewatercadmiumconcentration(r=0.96).
Theoystersexposedto5.75mgCd/Lthatdiedbe
fore72h,incorporated261.20 mgCd/gdryweightand
hadaBCF=45.39,whereastheorganismsexposed
to 30.50 mg/L showed values of 508.80 mgCd/g in
tissue(Fig.2a)andhadaBCF=16.68(Fig.3).The
concentrationinoystersincreasedwiththewatercon
centrations(r=0.90),meanwhiletheBCFdiminished
(r=0.96).Attheendoftheassay(168h),thesurvi
vor oysters exposed to 5.75 mgCd/L incorporated
158.00 mgCd/g(BCF=27.48),andthoseexposedto
30.50 mgCd/L incorporated113.20 mgCd/g (BCF =
3.71).Theaccumulationinsurvivors(168h)waslower,
therewasnotclearrelationshipamongtheincorpora
tion in tissue and concentration in water (Fig. 2b),
andtheBCFwas3.76.However,thegeneralbalance
(168h)consideringall the specimens,indicated that
cadmiumaccumulatedintheoysterspresentedanega
tiverelationshipwiththeBCF(r=0.62)(Fig.3).
Control 5.75 13.05 18.85 30.05
Dryweightinoystersdiedat72h(g)
Cdinoystersdiedat72h(g/g)
g/g)
(mgCd/L)
m
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
Control 5.75 13.05 18.85 30.05
dryweightinsurvivors(g)
Cdinsurvivors(g/g)
(g)
g/g)
(mgCd/L)
m
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
(g) (mg/g)
Control 5.75 13.05 18.85 30.05
(mgCd/L)
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
(g) (mg/g)
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0
500
400
300
200
100
0
0.2
Control 5.75 13.05 18.85 30.05
(mgCd/L)
Dry weightin oysters died at72 h (g)
Cdin oysters died at72 h (mg/g)
Dry weight in survivors (g)
Cd in survivors (mg/g)
(a) (b)
Fig. 2. Cdin tissueof oystersdied at72hproportionaltothewaterconcentrationwithoutimportantweightloss,andCdconcentra
tions in survivors not related to water concentrations but with important weight loss
07.7513.118.930.5
*
07.7513.118.930.5
*
*
0 7.75 13.1 18.9 30.5
(mgCd/L)
0 7.75 13.1 18.9 30.5
(mgCd/L)
0 7.75 13.1 18.9 30.5
(mgCd/L)
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Total weight (g) Wet weight (g)
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
2
0
Dry weight (g)
(a) (b) (c)
Fig. 1. Oystersmorphometry after the bioassay.Significant differences(*) amongcontrol andexposed oystersindicated that weight
loss was a result of theCd exposition
* *
*
CONCENTRATION OF CADMIUM IN Crassotrea virginica 59
The Cd LC5072h was 24.87 mg/L and the Cd
LBC
50

72h
was502.25mg/g(4.47 mmol/g).TheProbit
model was significant in both cases (p<0.05). The
variationcoefficient(VC)wasunder15%,butthe
lower VC was obtained using the corporal concen
trations.Forthisreasontheadjustmentcouldbecon
sideredbetterwiththelethalityrelationshipbasedin
the oyster concentrations. On the other hand, the
correlationcoefficientwithmortalitywashigherus
ingthewaterconcentration(r=0.97)thanwiththe
bodyconcentration(r=0.81)(TableI).
ValuesofLC
50
calculatedat48,72,96and120h,
didnotshowalinearbehavior,meanwhiletheLBC
50
obtained for the same periods had almost a linear
behavior (Fig. 4).
DISCUSSION
Severalspeciesofthegenus Crassostrea arecon
sidered bioaccumulator of metals: C. iridisens is
moderate (SotoJimnez et al. 2001), and C.
corteziensis and C. rhizophorae are net accumu
latorsofCd(RuelasInzunzaandPezOsuna2000,
Silvaetal.2001).Theaccumulationindiedoysters
at72hinthepresentstudy(261.20to508.80g/g),
wasproportionaltothewaterconcentration,theor
ganismscouldnotregulatetheentranceofcadmium
and they accumulated the metal. The accumulation
generatedvaluestentimesgreaterthanvaluesmea
suredinoystersC.virginica(45.4g/g)exposedto
CdinthePatuxentRiver(Abbe etal. 2000).TheCd
inC.virginicahasbeenrelatedtoexternalconcen
trationandtimeofexposure.Zaroogian(1980)reg
istered125 mgCd/gin C.virginica exposedto0.005
mgCd/L,and130 mgCd/gexposedto0.015mgCd/L,
after36weeks.MeanwhileZaroogianandMorrison
(1981)registered91 mgCd/gin C.virginica exposed
to0.005mgCd/Lduring37weeks.TheCdincorpo
rated during the assay in short time, but in higher
waterconcentrationscouldbeconsideredsimilarto
the accumulation in other bivalves, as Andar a
granosa that accumulated 350 mgCd/g exposed to
waterfromVashi,India,with2.4mgCd/Lafter96h,
A. rhombea reach 305 mgCd/g and Perna viridis
240 mg/g inwater with 1.8mgCd/L(Patel andAn
thony1991)andtheaccumulationin Mytilusedulis
was300500 mgCd/g, exposedto0.2mgCd/L(Khler
Water concentration Body concentration
Cd lethal concentration
50.72h
24.87mg/L 502.25 mg/g(4.47 mmol/g)
Coefficient of determination r
2
0.94 0.65
Coefficient of correlation 0.97 0.81
Coefficient of variation (%) 12.06 7.38
c
2
(0.05,3)
Obtained and expected 0.95< 5.99 4.73 < 5.99
TABLEI. ADJUSTMENT FROM THE PROBIT LOG X MODEL WITH LETHAL
CONCENTRATIONAND LETHAL BODY CONCENTRATION
Cd in water (mg/L)
5.7 13.1 18.9 30.5 5.7 13.1 18.9 30.5
Cd in oyster (mg/L) Bioconcentration factor
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Fig. 3. Increase in Cd concentrations in oysters and Biocon
centration Factor (BCF)
Fig. 4. Mean Lethal Concentration (LC
50
) and Mean Lethal
BodyConcentration(LBC
50
)obtainedindifferenthours
for Crassostrea virginica exposed to Cd
48h 72h 96h 120h
LC
50
(mg/L) LBC
50
(mg/g)
1000
LC
50
(mg/L) LBC
50
(mg/g)
48h 72h 96h 120h
LC
50
(mg/L) LBC
50
(mg/g)
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
G.BarreraEscorciaeI.WongChang 60
and Riisgard1982).BCFdiminishedinhigherCd
concentration. Organisms did not incorporate the
metalasfastasother exposedtolowerconcentra
tions. Cd interferes with osmoregulation, oxygen
consumption,modifiesgillstructure,andinhibitsCa
influx(Sadiq1992).Inthatmannerrespiratoryand
ingestionactivitiesmosttobedoneassociatedtoa
greaterenergeticcostwhenorganismsareexposed
toCd.Thiscanbethe reasonofthe higherweight
loss in exposed oysters. The lower Cd accumula
tioninsurvivorsindicatesacapacityofregulation
with a metabolic expense, represented by the dry
weightloss.
TheCIindicatesthatorganismsbeganthebioas
say in adequate condition their feeding was suffi
cient during themaintenance period, IC diminution
wasconsequenceofstarvation,theweightlossindi
cateda deteriorationin generalcondition ofthe or
ganisms.Butdifferencesamongcontrolandexposed
organismsindicatethatcadmiumincorporationwas
associatedtoagreaterweightloss.Aninverserela
tionshipbetweencadmiumconcentrationintissueand
conditionindex hasbeenrecordedin naturaloyster
populationsinthePatuxentRiver(Riedel etal. 1998).
Traditionallyeffects arerelated toexternal concen
tration.Actually,severalauthorscoincideinthecon
venience to associate the body concentration with
the effect. Walker and Gobas (1999) indicate that
protocolsofenvironmentalprotectionshouldinclude
themeasurementoftheinternalconcentrationaswell
astheexposureconcentrationassociatedtothetoxic
effect.Borgmann(2000)indicatesthatthebodybur
den approach is better than the analyses with the
waterexposureconcentration,particularlywithnon
essentialmetals, ascadmium.
The interpretation based in water concentration
allowsacomparisonwiththetraditional studies,as
theCalabreseetal.(1973)determinationoftheCd
LC
50
48h
forembryosof C.virginica andotherstud
ies with adults (Jorgensen et al. 1991), but the Cd
accumulationandthedamageassociatedtoselected
experimentalparameters,gaveinformationaboutthe
native oyster population sensitivity. In the present
study, the LBC
50
and the LC
50
results were signifi
cant to the model and the fit was similar. Both of
themareusefultomakeaninterpretationofthedam
age,and to give complementaryinformation. How
evertheLBC
50
calculatedinseveralperiodsshowed
alinearbehaviorcomparingwiththeLC
50
asshows
the figur e 4.
Studies on the lethal effect of metals on C.
virginicaarenotsofrequentinthepresentasinthe
past,concentrationsof1.0mgCd/Linseawaterare
consideredextremelyhightonoteeffectsbyexposi
tion in C. virginica (Roesijadi 1996), but environ
mentconditionscanbemodifyandthesolubilityof
themetalinwatercanincrease.TheCdinsediment
hasarelativemotilitytothewatercolumn.Themove
ment is influenced by several factors, the polluted
sediments can remain as a source of metals after
their input to the environment has ceased (Ford et
al.1998).Previousstudieshadmeasured0.015g
Cd/ginsedimentoftheMandingalagoon(Rosaset
al. 1983) and recent studies had determinate 1.09
gCd/gwith0.80gCd/gbioavailable(Villanuevaand
Botello1998).ComplexationofCdwithCliscom
moninseawater,butthesolubleformCd
2+
increases
withthedecrementinsalinity(Sadiq1992).Thesa
linityconditionintropicalcoastallagoonsvariesgreat
deal along t he year. Senthilnathan and
Balasubramanian (1998), considerthat Cd concen
trationsinC.madrasensisarecorrelatedwithenvi
ronmental changes as the monsoon season and
Cheggour etal. (1999),indicatesthatCdin C.gigas
isrelatedtoseveralecologicalfactors.Thebehavior
of cadmium associated with the water salinity and
temperature might play an important role in the
bioavailability,andtheoysterresponsesareinfluenced
by environmental changes of both parameters too
C.virginicainwaterofPatuxentRiverwith0.08
0.03mgCd/L,35.3Cand16 incorporated45.4
4.3 g Cd/g (Abbe et al. 2000). The bioassay se
lected salinity (22.5 ) isthe average value in the
Mandinga lagoon and the temperature (24.1 C) is
consideredadequatetotheoysterculture(Secretara
dePesca1988).However,theMandingalagoonsa
linityfluctuatesbetween4.6to29.0andthetem
peraturesarebetween28.2to33.1C,thedissolved
oxygen is found between 1.73 and 4.22 mg/L, and
the pH from 4.5 to 8.7 (Contreras and Castaeda
1995). The natural variation in physicalchemical
parametersonthelagoonmayplayanimportantrole
in the Cd accumulation in oyster. Considering the
naturalvariation,samplingscoincidewiththerainy
season,whenoystersbegin theincrease ofreserves
for winter.Duringthe coldseasonoystersaccumu
latehigher glycogen reserves, and they have a bet
tercondition,butspawningcangenerate irregulari
tiesintheorganisms.Spawningisnotauniqueevent,
itcanoccurfromcooltowarmseason,severaltimes,
withtheincreaseoftemperature.Duringspringand
summeroystersconditionvaries,andorganismsgo
nad can be present or not. We consider that, from
SeptembertoNovember,thereisacertainhomoge
neityintheoysterscondition.
Previousstudiesindicatedthattotalcadmiumcon
CONCENTRATION OF CADMIUM IN Crassotrea virginica 61
centrationinwateroftheMandingalagoonwas0.002
mgCd/L and in oyster 1.54 mgCd/g (Rosas et al.
1983). A recent study detected 3. 13 mgCd/g
(VillanuevaandBotello1998).Inthepresentstudy
thecadmiumconcentrationinoysterscollectedinthe
MandingaLagoonwas 2.3gCd/g 1.11SD.Itis
considersimilar,becausethedispersionofdata,and
one extreme case of 4.2 gCd/g. The resistance of
C.virginica nativefromMandingalagoonwassimi
lar to organisms from temperate latitudes, but the
cadmium effects in lower concentrations should be
knownduetropicalcoastallagoonshavehighertem
peraturesandparticularbehavior.Theincorporation
is related to the environmental conditions, the con
centration in water and sediment, and the time of
exposition.Ontheotherhand,theLBC
50
couldrep
resents a useful tool in the evaluation of cadmium
effectsinnativepopulations.
Research must be continue to evaluate adverse
effectsofmetalstoC.virginicaconsideringnormal
environmental variations in orderto assess the risk
for this as well as for other commercial species in
the coastalareas of Mexico.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was supported by the National
Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT)
under the project Toxicity of chromium and cad
mium in the oyster Crassostrea virginica from the
MandingaLagoon,Veracruz(0636PT).Wethank
Ricardo Rosas Cedillo for the analyses of metal
samples and Alfonso V. Botello, Concepcin
Gutirrez,CeciliaVanegas,PatriciaRamrezandJuan
Manuel Hernndez for the critical review of the
manuscript.
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