Degree Name

MS (Master of Science)

Program

Biology

Date of Award

8-2025

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Joseph R. Bidwell

Committee Members

Melissa R.L. Whitaker, Trevor Chapman

Abstract

Field collected Corbicula fluminea were exposed to trace level copper, lead, and zinc with the aim of examining the preferential accumulation between the soft tissue and shell. Metal levels were based on those in a permitted industrial effluent. At 1X effluent and 2X effluent exposure levels, copper was found to preferentially accumulate in the clam soft tissue, lead was found to preferentially accumulate in the clam shell, and zinc was found to excrete back into the diluent after preferentially accumulating in the clam soft tissue. When exposed as a mixture at 1X effluent levels, copper and lead were found to preferentially accumulate in the clam shell, while zinc was found to depurate back into the diluent after preferentially accumulating in the clam soft tissue. Therefore, C. fluminea exposure to trace level copper, lead, and zinc in a mixture alters the accumulation pattern of copper when compared to single metal exposures.

Document Type

Thesis - unrestricted

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

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