Heavy metal accumulation in the periwinkle Littorina littorea, along a pollution gradient in the Scheldt estuary

Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrophotometry (ICP-AES) was used to determine heavy metal concentrations in the shells and soft tissues of the periwinkle Littorina littorea, collected at seven sites along the S cheldt estuary. Several metals accumulate in the animals soft body parts, a nd are related to the seawards decreasing pollution gradient. No clear corr elation with a previously detected shell size patterning could be establish ed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.