Cadmium and strontium content of mice, shrews. and some invertebrates

Mice (Clethrionomys glareolus, Apodemus flavicollis, Apodemus sylvaticus, M icrotus arvalis), the shrew Sorex araneus and some invertebrates (earthworm , field grasshopper, shell-less snail, Bourgogne snail) were sampled in the vicinity of a former phosphate fertiliser plant (Steudnitz) and in control areas in Thuringia/Germany. The industrial polluted site was found to be a strontium and cadmium rich area. The cadmium is of anthropogenic origin an d the strontium is of natural origin. All animals of the polluted area show ed increased levels of cadmium in the whole body substance with the highest amounts of 6.3 mg Cd/kg dry matter ire the common shrew in comparison to 1 .0 mg Cd/kg in control animals. In the literature nothing is known about th e strontium content of small mammals and invertebrates. Mice and shrews fro m both polluted and control areas exhibited strontium concentrations from 1 0 to 143 mg/kg with significantly higher values from all animals caught in the vicinity of Steudnitz. Shell-less snails contained about 400 mg/kg in c omparison to 146 mg/kg for the animals from the unexposed area.