Flux of cadmium through a laboratory food chain (media-algae-mussel) and its effects

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dc.contributor.advisorIrving, H M N Hen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorHennig, Helmke F-K Oen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-11-30T08:30:27Z
dc.date.available2015-11-30T08:30:27Z
dc.date.issued1981en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe increasing pollution of the aquatic environment by cadmium is a potentially severe problem and techniques are needed to document the effect of the metal. To investigate the flux of this metal through a laboratory food chain, algae were grown in various cadmium concentrations for subsequent use as contaminated food for mussels. The results showed that in order to make valid deductions, more information about chemical mechanisms and background ecophysiological data is needed, otherwise accumulation reports may become misleading. It was found that the best growth and accumulation results were achieved by harvesting algae from a zinc deficient media containing 7 μmole dm-3 cadmium and at a particular life cycle phase. Two uptake mechanisms are proposed. These "contaminated" algae were fed to mussels under different accumulation regimes. The metal gain and loss were determined and compared to a "baseline" dry body weight which had been calculated from a shell length-body weight relationship. Cadmium accumulation took place in the mussels and after some initial delay, could be correlated to weight loss. Such a weight loss was due to pathological and biochemical changes in the mussels. It was shown that the toxic effect of cadmium could be determined much earlier by the presence of special proteins. The elutant profiles of the gel chromatography study showed the production of metal binding protein as well as a spill over of cadmium into the enzyme pool, caused by a higher uptake than elimination rate. Cadmium on metal binding protein and in the enzyme pool could be related to the poisoning effect of the metal and a pollution history for the mussels identified. The characteristics of the metal binding protein were found to be very similar to those reported for metallothionein and had an approximate molecular weight of 10 600 daltons.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationHennig, H. F. O. (1981). <i>Flux of cadmium through a laboratory food chain (media-algae-mussel) and its effects</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Chemistry. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15456en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationHennig, Helmke F-K O. <i>"Flux of cadmium through a laboratory food chain (media-algae-mussel) and its effects."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Chemistry, 1981. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15456en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationHennig, H. 1981. Flux of cadmium through a laboratory food chain (media-algae-mussel) and its effects. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Hennig, Helmke F-K O AB - The increasing pollution of the aquatic environment by cadmium is a potentially severe problem and techniques are needed to document the effect of the metal. To investigate the flux of this metal through a laboratory food chain, algae were grown in various cadmium concentrations for subsequent use as contaminated food for mussels. The results showed that in order to make valid deductions, more information about chemical mechanisms and background ecophysiological data is needed, otherwise accumulation reports may become misleading. It was found that the best growth and accumulation results were achieved by harvesting algae from a zinc deficient media containing 7 μmole dm-3 cadmium and at a particular life cycle phase. Two uptake mechanisms are proposed. These "contaminated" algae were fed to mussels under different accumulation regimes. The metal gain and loss were determined and compared to a "baseline" dry body weight which had been calculated from a shell length-body weight relationship. Cadmium accumulation took place in the mussels and after some initial delay, could be correlated to weight loss. Such a weight loss was due to pathological and biochemical changes in the mussels. It was shown that the toxic effect of cadmium could be determined much earlier by the presence of special proteins. The elutant profiles of the gel chromatography study showed the production of metal binding protein as well as a spill over of cadmium into the enzyme pool, caused by a higher uptake than elimination rate. Cadmium on metal binding protein and in the enzyme pool could be related to the poisoning effect of the metal and a pollution history for the mussels identified. The characteristics of the metal binding protein were found to be very similar to those reported for metallothionein and had an approximate molecular weight of 10 600 daltons. DA - 1981 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1981 T1 - Flux of cadmium through a laboratory food chain (media-algae-mussel) and its effects TI - Flux of cadmium through a laboratory food chain (media-algae-mussel) and its effects UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15456 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/15456
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationHennig HFO. Flux of cadmium through a laboratory food chain (media-algae-mussel) and its effects. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Chemistry, 1981 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15456en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Chemistryen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherFood chains (Ecology)en_ZA
dc.subject.otherCadmium - Environmental aspectsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherAnalytical Scienceen_ZA
dc.titleFlux of cadmium through a laboratory food chain (media-algae-mussel) and its effectsen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMScen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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