CADMIUM IN THE SAUCER SCALLOP, AMUSIUM BALLOTI, FROM WESTERN-AUSTRALIAN WATERS - CONCENTRATIONS IN ADDUCTOR MUSCLE AND REDISTRIBUTION FOLLOWING FROZEN STORAGE

Geographic and seasonal variations in the concentration of cadmium in the adductor muscle of saucer scallops, Amusium balloti, were determin ed for scallops collected from five sites off the Western Australian c oast throughout 1985. Mean cadmium concentrations for adductor muscles from whole frozen scallops from each of the five sites ranged from 0. 41 to 1.44 mg kg(-1) wet weight and were below the maximum permitted c oncentration of 2.0 mg kg(-1) set by the Australian National Food Auth ority. Most of the cadmium (about 80% of the total) in the scallops wa s in the non-edible digestive gland. Subsequent work revealed that add uctor muscles of whole frozen scallops contained more cadmium than did adductors of scallops that had been processed live because of redistr ibution of cadmium from the digestive gland, with the degree of redist ribution depending on the time in frozen storage. Cadmium in A. ballot i from Western Australian waters was likely to be of natural origin be cause the highest concentrations were found in animals collected in re mote areas where human activities have had no significant effect.