The Rush Mining District along the Buffalo River in Northern Arkansas has a well-known history of zinc and lead mining operations from 1880 to 1940. The tails and spoils of these operations once dumped heavy amounts of raw ore into the streams. One element commonly found in the earth's crust that becomes a minor constituent of the tails and spoils is cadmium. Cadmium is a non-essential metal in higher functioning organisms and is extremely toxic when input exceeds the rate at which an organism may depurify the pollutant. One suitable bioindicator of invertebrate ecotoxicology is crayfish. Depuration rates are slow and accumulation of the non-essential metal in the digestive organs of the species is easily measured. The final report will include cadmium concentration measured by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy from the digestive organs of Procambarus (the common midwestern genera) samples by method of standard addition to the complex matrix after an acid digestion. The results are statistically compared to the values of control samples from un-mined areas to show if the cadmium concentrations are significantly different.

Bioaccumulation of cadmium in<i> Procambarus ssp</i>: A suitable bioindicator of environmental toxicology

247th National Meeting (2014)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.

Bioaccumulation of cadmium in Procambarus ssp: A suitable bioindicator of environmental toxicology