Growing Snails Used as Sentinels to Evaluate Terrestrial Environmental Contamination by Trace Elements

Two-month-old garden snails Helix aspersa were evaluated as sentinels of terrestrial contamination by trace elements. The snails were kept in bottomless cages for four months at four different sites in France with different pollution loads, and effects on mortality, growth, and metal bioaccumulation...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemosphere (Oxford) 2000-02, Vol.40 (3), p.275-275
Main Authors: Gomot de Vaufleury, A, Pihan, F
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Two-month-old garden snails Helix aspersa were evaluated as sentinels of terrestrial contamination by trace elements. The snails were kept in bottomless cages for four months at four different sites in France with different pollution loads, and effects on mortality, growth, and metal bioaccumulation were monitored. Results showed that the snails efficiently bioaccumulated zinc, lead, and cadmium, occurring more in the viscera than in the foot. Snail mortality was very high at the urban site, which indicated that the laboratory-reared snails were not adapted to polluted environments like those occurring naturally in gardens and yards. Growth was also an indictor of contamination, with animals in more polluted environments exhibiting a slower growth rate.
ISSN:0045-6535