Copper and Cadmium Toxicity on Freshwater Snail Physella acuta as Biological Indicator

Khudhur, Shelan Mustafa

doi:10.32894/kujss.2024.147491.1146

	Copper and Cadmium Toxicity on Freshwater Snail Physella acuta as Biological Indicator
Kirkuk Journal of Science
Volume 19, Issue 2, June 2024, Pages 27-33 PDF (372.83 K)
Document Type: Research Paper
DOI: 10.32894/kujss.2024.147491.1146
Author
Shelan Mustafa Khudhur^*
Environmental Science and Health Department, College of Science, Salahaddin, University, Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan Region. Iraq
Abstract
Biological indicators are essential for detecting contaminants globally because they can inform us about the long-term effects of many pollutants in the environment. About 80 snail individuals Physella acuta, an adult freshwater snail (Gastropod: Physidae) were collected from the Tigris River / Lower Zab near Taqtaq bridge, Erbil Province, Iraq on November 2022. In the laboratory, the animals were placed in tanks with river water for acclimatization. The 24-, 48, 72 and 96-h toxicity of two heavy metals cupper and Cadmium (CuSO₄·5H₂O and CdCl₂.2 H₂O) have been investigated using various nominal concentrations, including 0.0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 0.9 mg L⁻¹ for Cu and 0.5, 1.0,3.0 ,5.0 and 7.0 mg L⁻¹ for Cd. The behavioral changes and the snail’s mortality were noticed daily and the median lethal concentrations values (LC₅₀) for 24-, 48-, 72- and 96-h were calculated. The LC₅₀ values for the 24, 48,72 and 96- hour exposures to Cu and Cd were 0.911, 0.699, 0.462, 0.209 mg L⁻¹ and 2.359, 1.020, 0.094 and 0.040 mg L⁻¹, respectively. Results indicated that Cu showed noticeably greater toxicity than Cd. Also, treated groups showing significant variation in water pH value throughout the studied time. The study concluded that selected snail species can be used as a bioindicator for evaluating the hazards related to environmental pollutants.
Keywords
Bioindicator; Cupper; Cadmium; Freshwater Snail; Toxicity

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