Assessing the effects of Cu, Cd, and exposure period on metallothionein production in gills of the Brazilian brown mussel Perna perna by using factorial design.

Factorial design plan was experimented in Perna perna in order to find out the contribution of day exposure, Cd and Cu concentrations in water, and their interactions on metallothioneins (MT), Cd, and Cu (the dependent measured variables) in the gills. The picture obtained is more adequate than by studying the factor effect separately. Compared with the control group, the MT concentration after 22 days exposure period in the mixture of 100 μg/mL Cu and Cd is increased almost two times, showing that P. perna might be used as a biomonitor. Cd showed stronger effect than Cu on MT inducing.