Golet W J, Haines T A
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, USA.
Environ Monit Assess. 2001 Oct;71(3):211-20. doi: 10.1023/a:1011802117198.
We assessed the distribution of mercury in snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) by analyzing front shoulder muscle, back leg muscle, tail muscle, blood, liver, and marginal carapacial scute (shell) of 26 adult turtles from five small lakes. Total mercury concentration in muscle ranged from 50 to 500 ng g(-1) wet weight and was highly correlated among the three tissue locations. There was no relationship between muscle mercury concentration and body size. Mercury concentration in blood was similar to muscle; the correlation with muscle mercury concentration was significant but there was some variability. Mercury concentration in shell was much higher than in muscle or blood, ranging from 500 to 3300 ng g(-1), and was highly correlated with muscle mercury concentration. Liver mercury concentration was similar to shell, but was highly variable and uncorrelated with any other tissue. We conclude that snapping turtles accumulate mercury from their environment and may be useful monitors of mercury contamination.
我们通过分析来自五个小湖泊的26只成年鳄龟（蛇鳄龟）的前肩肌肉、后腿肌肉、尾部肌肉、血液、肝脏和边缘甲盾（壳），评估了汞在鳄龟体内的分布情况。肌肉中的总汞浓度范围为50至500纳克/克湿重，且在三个组织部位之间高度相关。肌肉汞浓度与体型之间没有关系。血液中的汞浓度与肌肉相似；与肌肉汞浓度的相关性显著，但存在一些变异性。壳中的汞浓度远高于肌肉或血液，范围为500至3300纳克/克，且与肌肉汞浓度高度相关。肝脏汞浓度与壳相似，但变化很大，与其他任何组织均无相关性。我们得出结论，鳄龟从其环境中积累汞，可能是汞污染的有用监测指标。
