Metal (Al, As, Ca, Cd, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Pb, Zn) levels in the feeding organ or radula of the common limpet Patella vulgata L. were surveyed in 10 populations over a approximately 150-km stretch of coastline in north-east England. The most northern population was at Beadnell in Northumberland and the most southern was at Port Mulgrave in North Yorkshire; sites included unspoilt bays and areas heavily affected by industrial contamination such as the River Tees estuary. We hypothesized that the radula might be used as an indicator of environmental contamination. There were significant differences between the sites in the ratio of radula length to shell length. Limpets from Whitburn had the smallest radula fraction (mean = 1.665), while those from Port Mulgrave the largest (mean = 1.998). Such variation is common in the literature and we detected no correlate and propose no cause. Iron was clearly the dominant metal in the radulae, with an overall of mean of 1.46% of radular weight, though this is rather low in comparison to values in the literature. Iron is naturally secreted into the developing radula as a putative hardening agent. The next most abundant metals, in descending order, were Na (at approximately 2000-8000 microg g(-1)), K, Mg, Ca (approximately 1000-1500 microg g(-1)), Zn, Cu, Al, Pb (approximately 7-75 microg g(-1)), Mn, As, Cd (approximately 0-1 microg g(-1)). All but Al and Cd showed significant differences between the sites, but not in any consistent or convincing geographic manner. Nevertheless, the variations in metal levels between sites (e.g. Fe > 72%, Cu and Zn > 10-fold) suggest an environmental cause, but we are unable to offer any responsible factor, for example, there appeared little effect of the River Tees estuary. Cadmium is at a relatively low level in the radula in comparison to published data on pedal mucus and the flesh, but Pb is relatively high in pedal mucus and the radula and this might suggest that the radula is a detoxification route for Pb. Although the relationship between radula metal content and environmental metal content is unknown, the radula is constantly replaced and so may yet have the potential to be of use as a bioindicator, integrating metal exposure over much shorter periods than whole body burdens.

中文翻译：

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来自英国10个站点的普通帽贝Pat骨小弓的金属浓度。

在大约150个种群中的10个种群中调查了常见帽贝Pat的摄食器官或小or中的金属（Al，As，Ca，Cd，Cu，Fe，K，Mg，Mn，Na，Pb，Zn）水平英格兰东北部绵延数公里的海岸线。最北部的人口位于诺森伯兰郡的Beadnell，最南部的人口位于北约克郡的Mulgrave港。地点包括未遭破坏的海湾和受工业污染严重影响的区域，例如蒂斯河河口。我们假设锯齿可能被用作环境污染的指标。的长度与壳的长度之比在两个部位之间存在显着差异。来自惠特本的短尾小鸭的叶片半径最小（平均= 1.665），而来自穆拉格雷夫港的小短尾鸭最大（平均= 1.998）。这种差异在文献中很常见，我们没有发现任何相关性，也没有提出任何原因。铁显然是小管中的主要金属，总体平均值为小管重量的1.46％，尽管与文献中的值相比，铁的含量很低。铁自然地作为推定的硬化剂分泌到正在发展的小锯齿中。倒数第二高的金属是Na（大约2000-8000 microg g（-1）），K，Mg，Ca（大约1000-1500 microg g（-1）），Zn，Cu，Al，铅（大约7-75微克g（-1）），锰，砷，镉（大约0-1微克g（-1））。除Al和Cd外，所有站点之间都显示出显着差异，但没有任何一致或令人信服的地理方式。然而，站点之间金属水平的变化（例如，Fe> 72％，Cu和Zn> 10倍）表明是环境原因，但我们无法提供任何负责任的因素，例如，蒂斯河河口的影响很小。与已发表的关于踏板粘液和果肉的数据相比，镉在rad中的含量相对较低，但是踏板黏液和the中的Pb含量相对较高，这可能表明是Pb的排毒途径。虽然金属含量与环境金属含量之间的关系尚不清楚，但金属不断地被替换，因此可能具有用作生物指示剂的潜力，其金属暴露时间比全身负担短得多。与已发表的关于踏板粘液和果肉的数据相比，镉在rad中的含量相对较低，但是踏板黏液和the中的Pb含量相对较高，这可能表明是Pb的排毒途径。虽然金属含量与环境金属含量之间的关系尚不清楚，但金属不断地被替换，因此可能具有用作生物指示剂的潜力，其金属暴露时间比全身负担短得多。与已发表的关于踏板粘液和果肉的数据相比，镉在rad中的含量相对较低，但是踏板黏液和the中的Pb含量相对较高，这可能表明是Pb的排毒途径。虽然金属含量与环境金属含量之间的关系尚不清楚，但金属不断地被替换，因此可能具有用作生物指示剂的潜力，其金属暴露时间比全身负担短得多。