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How subcellular partitioning can help to understand heavy metal accumulation and elimination kinetics in snails

To understand bioaccumulation kinetics of metals within biota inhabiting industrially contaminated soils, toxicokinetic dynamics and subcellular fractionation were carried out with the terrestrial snail Helix aspersa in a long‐term (six‐month) laboratory experiment. Accumulation and elimination kinetics were determined for Cd, Pb, and Zn in both viscera and foot of snails and were described accurately by one‐compartment models. The subcellular fractions were obtained by sequential centrifugations and were analyzed by isolating metal‐rich granules, tissue fragments, and cytosolic fractions. Different fractions showed metal‐specific binding capacities that might be useful in identifying the biological significance of accumulated metal levels in snails. Cadmium was retrieved mainly from the cytosolic fraction, where it was stored in the long term and not excreted, thus explaining the linear accumulation patterns. Most of the accumulated Pb was found in the granular fraction, and snails appeared able to excrete these concretions, leading to achievement of a steady state in internal Pb body burdens. Significant levels of Pb, however, were retrieved at the end of the depuration phase and retained in the cell debris fraction. Zinc showed affinities for both cytosolic and granular fractions, leading to intermediate uptake and excretion patterns. The dynamics of the different sequestration forms at the subcellular level support the observed kinetics of metal body burdens and, in association with the determination of uptake fluxes, allow precise assessment of metal accumulation in snails.