CADMIUM AND LEAD UPTAKE FROM FOOD BY THE FISH DICENTRARCHUS-LABRAX

Cadmium and lead uptake from the bh food in liver and muscle tissue of sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax were investigated experimentally. The c onditions as close as possible to those in natural environment were en sured by this experiment The sea bass was exposed to elevated concentr ations of Cd (5.36, 38.5 and 485 mg kg(-1)) and Pb (2.58, 25.1 and 238 mg kg(-1)) in fish food. In fish exposed to these concentrations, a l inear metal concentration increase (in liver and muscle tissue) was es tablished during the experiment However, liver and muscle tissue respo nd differently during metal uptake. Although at the end of the experim ent (62 days) Cd concentration was much higher in the liver of exposed fish, bioaccumulation in the muscle tissue was faster. Quite an oppos ite trend was recorded for lead bioaccumulation. Bioaccumulation of pb in the liver was faster than in muscle tissue. The results of this ex periment confirmed that the liver, as a central organ of metabolic pro cesses, may be a measure of an actual Cd and Pb load of an organism.