Cellular responses of oysters, Crassostrea virginica, to metal-contaminated sediments

Elevation of metal concentrations in coastal environments associated with a nthropogenic enrichment pose a significant threat to estuarine organisms. T he purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationships between cellular responses that may be potentially valuable as indicators of chronic stress and metal-contaminated sediments. For these studies, hatchery-reared juven ile oysters were deployed in situ at 15 sites for approximately 1 month aro und Charleston Harbor, SC. The effects on lysosomal destabilization and glu tathione concentrations were determined; and the relationships between the cellular responses and sediment metal concentrations were described. Both s ingle metal and multiple metal parameters (based on total metal concentrati ons, aluminum normalizations, and summed sediment quality guidelines) were considered. Generally, significant correlations were observed for individua l metal analytes and multiple metal parameters. Since many of the individua l metal analytes covary, the responses may reflect overall contaminant load ing rather than responses to individual metals. Methods for estimating over all contaminant loading based on multiple analytes provide a more realistic estimate of potential adverse effects. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.