Heavy Metal Storage in Marine Animals Under Various Environmental Conditions

High loads of heavy metals can be found in some marine species either due to their peculiar physiology or due to the level of pollution of the medium they are living in. The first case is illustrated by copper loads of species using haemocyanin as oxygen-carrier and iron loads of species using haemoglobin. The other case is, for example, that of mollusc species living in the Severn Estuary, highly polluted by heavy metals: they contain more Cd, Cu and Zn than molluscs of the same species living in unpolluted mediums (Noel-Lambot et al., 1978).