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Characterization of <sup>241</sup>Am and <sup>134</sup>Cs bioaccumulation in the king scallop Pecten maximus: Investigation via three exposure pathways

Abstract:

In order to understand the bioaccumulation of 241Am and 134Cs in scallops living in sediments, the uptake and depuration kinetics of these two elements were investigated in the king scallop Pecten maximus exposed via seawater, food, or sediment under laboratory conditions. Generally, 241Am accumulation was higher and its retention was stronger than 134Cs. This was especially obvious when considering whole animals exposed through seawater with whole-body concentration factors (CF7d) of 62 vs. 1, absorption efficiencies (A0l) of 78 vs. 45 for seawater and biological half-lives (Tbl) of 892 d vs. 22 d for 241Am and 134Cs, respectively. In contrast, following a single feeding with radiolabelled phytoplankton, the assimilation efficiency (AE) and Tbl of 134Cs were higher than those of 241Am (AE: 28% vs. 20%; Tbl: 14 d vs. 9 d). Among scallop tissues, the shells always contained the higher proportion of the total body burden of 241Am whatever the exposure pathway. In contrast, the whole soft parts presented the major fraction of whole-body burden of 134Cs, which was generally associated with muscular tissues. Our results showed that the two radionuclides have contrasting behaviors in scallops, in relation to their physico-chemical properties. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.