Relationships between metallothionein induction, cadmium, copper and zinc levels and environmental parameters in the soft shell clam Mya arenaria in the Saguenay fjord and the St. Lawrence River maritime estuary

Abstract

Physiological status of Mya arenaria is threatened in the Saguenay-Saint Lawrence system due to inputs of many kinds of pollutants from anthropogenic and industrial origins. Investigations of the health of M. arenaria were carried out using metallothioneins concentrations as biomarkers of metallic contamination in relation with concentrations of metals.