Transfer and distribution of lead in the asteroid Asterias rubens following ingestion of contaminated food: a radiotracer study

A radiotracer technique using 210Pb was applied to quantify the transfer and distribution of lead in the asteroid Asterias rubens following a single ingestion of radio-labelled mussels under controlled laboratory conditions. Approximately 50% of the 210Pb accumulated by mussels in their soft tissues from seawater was transferred to the asteroid through the food pathway resulting in a transfer factor less than unity. Loss kinetics of 210Pb in the asteroid were best described by a two-component exponential model. A. rubens eliminated 56% +/- 5% of the ingested 210Pb in a few days while the remaining fraction (42% +/- 5%), was absorbed and eliminated very slowly. Following ingestion, 210Pb was accumulated in the pyloric caeca and the body wall with little radioisotope found in the coelomic fluid. Lead-210 was then transferred to the organic matrix of the body wall through the general body cavity via the coelomic fluid, and then to the skeleton. In this way, lead appears to be progressively eliminated from the organic matrix of the body wall while it is efficiently trapped in the calcite skeleton. The sequestration and retention of lead in the skeleton is considered as a detoxification process, but it also prevents lead transfer to higher trophic levels of the marine food chain since the skeleton is not digested by higher consumers. In addition, the skeleton of asteroids can be regarded as a bioindicator of long-term dietary lead contamination.