Title |
Bioaccumulative and conchological assessment of heavy metal transfer in a soil-plant-snail food chain
|
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Published in |
BMC Chemistry, June 2012
|
DOI | 10.1186/1752-153x-6-55 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Dragos V Nica, Marian Bura, Iosif Gergen, Monica Harmanescu, Despina-Maria Bordean |
Abstract |
Copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) can pose serious threats to environmental health because they tend to bioaccumulate in terrestrial ecosystems. We investigated under field conditions the transfer of these heavy metals in a soil-plant-snail food chain in Banat area, Romania. The main goal of this paper was to assess the Roman snail (Helix pomatia) usefulness in environmental monitoring as bioindicator of heavy metal accumulation. Eight sampling sites, selected by different history of heavy metal (HM) exposure, were chosen to be sampled for soil, nettle leaves, and newly matured snails. This study also aimed to identify the putative effects of HM accumulation in the environment on phenotypic variability in selected shell features, which included shell height (SH), relative shell height (RSH), and whorl number (WN). |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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Germany | 1 | 50% |
Unknown | 1 | 50% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
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Members of the public | 1 | 50% |
Scientists | 1 | 50% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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United Kingdom | 1 | 1% |
Romania | 1 | 1% |
Canada | 1 | 1% |
Unknown | 69 | 96% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
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Student > Master | 15 | 21% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 14 | 19% |
Researcher | 8 | 11% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 4 | 6% |
Student > Bachelor | 4 | 6% |
Other | 9 | 13% |
Unknown | 18 | 25% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
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Environmental Science | 14 | 19% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 12 | 17% |
Chemistry | 5 | 7% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 3 | 4% |
Engineering | 3 | 4% |
Other | 12 | 17% |
Unknown | 23 | 32% |