UPTAKE, STORAGE AND EXCRETION OF URANIUM BY MYTILUS EDULIS, A STRUCTURAL, ULTRASTRUCTURAL AND MICROANALYTICAL STUDY BY SECONDARY ION EMISSION AND X RAY SPECTROMETRY

C. Chassard-Bouchaud , F. Escaig

1-Two microanalytical methods have been used : X ray emission at the light and electron microscope levels and secondary ion emission ut the light microscope level. They allowed to show that M. edulis collected on the Channel coasts or experimentally contaminated samples, bioaccumulate 238U. 2-The highest U levels were detected in the samples collected in the areas where phosphogypsum and TiO2 industrial wastes,U containing, are released. 3-Uranium uptake happened via gill and digestive tractus. Storage organs were mantle, digestive gland, intestine epithelium and gonad where the highest values often occured. Excretion happened via kidney. 4-The target organelles were digestive gland lysosomes and kidney sphe rocrystals : within both of these accumulation sites, uranium was always associated with phosphorus. Thus, soluble uranium which was absorbed, was then concentrated in the form of an unsoluble phosphate in the storage organelles. 5-Macrophage haemocytes plaid an important part in ingestion, transport, storage and excretion of the radionuclide. 6-The common marine Musse, appears as a biological system accumulating uranium which, present in the marine environment at trace level, is stored and concentrated under an unsoluble form by the Mussel. M. edulis is proposed as an uranium pollution indicator organism.

Domaines: Articles anciens

C. Chassard-Bouchaud, F. Escaig. UPTAKE, STORAGE AND EXCRETION OF URANIUM BY MYTILUS EDULIS, A STRUCTURAL, ULTRASTRUCTURAL AND MICROANALYTICAL STUDY BY SECONDARY ION EMISSION AND X RAY SPECTROMETRY. Journal de Physique Colloques, 1984, 45 (C2), pp.C2-545-C2-548. ⟨10.1051/jphyscol:19842124⟩. ⟨jpa-00223793⟩