Mechanisms of cadmium accumulation (adsorption and absorption) by the freshwater bivalve Corbicula fluminea under hydrodynamic conditions

Many heavy metals in sediments and water have potential adverse effects on aquatic organisms such as Corbicula fluminea (O.F. Müller, 1774), a bivalve species frequently used as a biomonitor for metal pollution. Studies over the past decades examining the heavy metal uptake by C. fluminea, very few has investigated the effect of hydrodynamic conditions on accumulation of heavy metal by C. fluminea. Therefore, in this study, to investigate the mechanism of intracellular and extracellular accumulation of metal, individuals of C. fluminea were exposed to cadmium (Cd)-treated water under three different hydrodynamic conditions. These included exposures in two set ups: three rates of rotation (500, 350, 200 r/min) in beakers for 10 days, and then exposure to Cd-treated sediment under two naturally turbulent water conditions (14 cm/s and 3.2 cm/s) in experimental flumes for 23 days. Hydrodynamic force increased the burrowing rate but decreased the activity of C. fluminea. After 10 days of exposure, the extracellular concentrations of Cd in the tissues of C. fluminea in the sand group were significantly higher than that in the gravel groups. The intracellular and extracellular concentrations of Cd in the tissues of C. fluminea dramatically increased in the Cd-treated sediment test. Moreover, the concentration of the extracellular Cd adsorbed on the tissues of C. fluminea in the 14 cm/s and 3.2 cm/s groups was significantly higher than that in the control group, whereas the effect of hydrodynamic force on absorption of Cd by C. fluminea was not obvious. These results suggest that hydrodynamic condition plays an important role in extracellular accumulation of Cd by C. fluminea. In future study, when using C. fluminea to assess Cd pollution in aquatic environment, extracellular Cd adsorbed on the tissue should be removed to avoid the influence of hydrodynamics.