Element concentrations in the archiacanthocephalan Macracanthorhynchus hirudinaceus compared with those in the porcine definitive host from a slaughterhouse in La Paz, Bolivia

Concentrations of lead and cadmium, determined by electrothermal atomic abs orption spectrometry, and concentrations of the elements barium, cadmium, c opper, iron, magnesium, manganese, nickel, lead, selenium and strontium, de termined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, in the acanthocep halan Macracanthorhynchus hirudinaceus and its porcine final host, sampled at a slaughterhouse in La Pat, Bolivia, were compared. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis revealed that most of the elements were f ound at higher concentrations in the acanthocephalan than in different tiss ues of its host. The bioconcentration of elements in M. hirudinaceus compar ed with the host intestine, listed in order of decreasing values, was as fo llows: Cd > Pb > Ni > Sr = Cu > Mg > Se > Fe = Mn = Ba. Analysis by electro thermal atomic absorption spectrometry showed that M, hirudinaceus containe d 85, 85, 56 and 24 times higher lead levels compared with hosts muscle, li ver, kidney and intestine, respectively. The mean cadmium concentration of the parasite was 32 times higher than that of the liver and five times high er compared with porcine kidney. The metal distribution within the body of M. hirudinaceus was as follows: cement gland > testes > lemnisci > eggs = t egument for lead and lemnisci > testes > cement gland > tegument > eggs for cadmium. Therefore, the hypothesis that parasites excrete toxic metals wit h the shells of their eggs seems not to be valid for nil. hirudinaceus. It is concluded, that not only eoacanthocephalans and palaeacanthocephalans pa rasitising fish, but also archiacanthocephalans from mammalian hosts, are a ble to bioaccumulate metals. (C) 2000 Australian Society for Parasitology I nc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.