The Influence of Exposure of Cadmium Chloride and Zinc Chloride on Haemolymph and Digestive Gland Cells from Mytilus galloprovincialis

The bioaccumulation of heavy metals in these organisms, as Mytilus galloprovincialis, is, in fact, a danger for their survival and biology. In this paper, the effects of two heavy metals (CdCl2 and ZnCl2) on digestive glands and haemolymph were evaluated. Exposure to Cd+2 and Zn+2 caused damage to haemocytes and digestive cells, mainly after 7 days of exposure. Both concentrations (0.5 and 1 mg/L) have increased the cells mortality, and especially in the exposure of ZnCl2, the cells of digestive gland did not show tendency of the cell population to reduce its size after the initial swelling. In conclusion, both heavy metals caused cytotoxic effects at the concentration tested, which increase with increasing concentration and the time of exposure.