Factors influencing cadmium accumulation and its toxicity to marine organisms

The toxicity of dissolved cadmium to a variety of marine animals has been found to be related to salinity, with decreased toxicity observed at higher salinities. Recent data from our laboratory have demonstrated that the toxicity of cadmium to estuarine shrimp and larval fish is a function of free cadmium ion concentration, which in turn is controlled by the chloride concentration of the water. As the chloride concentration (i.e., salinity of the water) increases, the concentration of free cadmium ion decreases relative to total dissolved metal, due to its complexation with chloride ions. These observations have been given further support by measurements involving the uptake of (115m)Cd by shrimp which showed that accumulation of (115m)Cd and chloride concentration also are inversely related. Experiments also have been conducted on the physiological effects of cadmium on the respiration of excised oyster gill tissue. Although tissues from oysters exposed for 14 days to 0.1 ppm total dissolved cadmium accumulated significant quantities of metal, no measurable effects on respiration rates were detected. Higher doses (0.3 and 0.6 ppm) caused both mortalities of oysters and accelerated respiration of excised oyster gill. Exposure to 0.1 ppm cadmium also caused the induction of and/or increased binding of cadmium to a specific low molecular weight protein in oysters. This protein appeared to have a detoxification function at low cadmium exposure levels, but in animals exposed to 0.6 ppm cadmium the induction mechanism apparently became saturated, allowing the excess cadmium to bind critical sites with resultant damage.