PMID: 9162514Jan 1, 1997Paper

Effects of heavy metals on snail development. Use of snails as bio-indicators of heavy metal pollution for the preservation of human health

Bulletin de l'Académie nationale de médecine
A Gomot

Abstract

The use of snails as biological indicators is particularly appropriate for metals, which they accumulate in their organs. The aim of the present experiment was to carry out a rigorous experimentation in the laboratory and in the wild in order to develop a methodology for the use of snails at a known stage of growth that would give precise information on the toxicity of heavy metals for different concentrations and durations of exposure. We have developed a test of toxicity based on the effects of a noxious and carcinogenic element, cadmium, on the land-snail Helix aspersa aspersa (H.a.a) of one month of age. Five concentrations (50 to 800 micrograms/g), were selected to estimate the concentrations causing 50% inhibition of growth (EC 50) at 14 days: 190 micrograms/g and at 28 days: 180 micrograms/g. A soil matrix contaminated with metals (soil including 800 micrograms/g Cr, 20 micrograms/g Cd, 800 micrograms/g Pb and 2000 micrograms/g Zn) was incorporated into the food at 50 and 75%, it too inhibited the growth of juvenile snails compared to incorporation of control soil. An accurate and rapid (2 to 4 weeks) method is therefore available for the evaluation of the toxicity of pollutants by ingestion. The first trials of this met...Continue Reading

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