SREL Reprint #1879
Snail (Helix asperse) Exposure History and Possible Adaptation to Lead
as Reflected in Shell Composition
M. C. Newman1, M. Mulvey1, A. Beeby2, R. W. Hurst3 , L. Richmond 2
1University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Aiken, South Carolina 29803, USA
2School of Applied Science, South Bank University, London SEI OAA, United Kingdom
3Chempet Research Corp, Moorpark, California 93021, USA
Abstract. Lead sequestration in shell was examined for English
and Welsh populations of the
common garden snail (Helix asperse) with different Pb exposure histories.
Isotopic Pb ratios provided signatures for Pb source and a means of implying
duration of population exposure from
decades to millennia. Total Pb concentrations were used to quantify, the intensity
of exposure experienced by the populations. Snails from populations with long
histories of exposure (millennia)
to high Pb levels had proportionately more Pb in their shell than soft tissue
compared with snails from other surveyed populations. These observations suggest
that Pb sequestration in shell has been
enhanced in H. asperse populations with long and intense exposure to
Pb.
SREL Reprint #1879
Newman, M.C., M. Mulvey, A. Beeby, R.W. Hurst, and L. Richmond. 1994. Snail (Helix aspersa) exposure history and possible adaptation to lead as reflected in shell composition. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 27:346-351.
