Studies on the Chemical Form of Heavy Metal in Oyster. II. Distribution of Cd at Various Organs and Their Gel Filtration Patterns of the Cd Exposed Oyster

Abstract

The oyster was bred for a week in natural sea water containing 0.1 (control), 20 and 60 ppb Cd (CdCl₂). After the breeding, Cd content in each tissue of the oyster meat was determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy. When the exposure to 60 ppb Cd for a week, the rate of accumulation of Cd in the gill raised up to 56 times the control. Each tissue was homogenized in 0.5 M NaCl solution and an aliquot of the NaCl-soluble fraction was chromatographed on Sephadex G-50. Almost Cd was eluted at the column volume. This suggests that the chemical form of Cd in the oyster meat was characteristic of the low molecular weight materials.