8. metal toxicology (Cu)

Question 1

routes of exposure for Cu in humans

Answer 1

• Food, beverages (often the containers) and drinking water (Cu in pipes) are common routes

Question 2

Cu Toxicity

Answer 2

• Produced in industrial and mining activities as well.
• Common pollutant in aquatic systems, highly toxic to aquatic organisms.
• One of the concerns of the pebble mine in Alaska.
• Potentially impact the Bristol Bay sockeye salmon fishery
• Annually brings in ~$300 million, employs ~11000 people, feeds millions

Question 3

Cu Toxicity in Fish

Answer 3

Can be very acutely lethal for fish with LC50’s in fresh water as low as in the μg/L range.
Can have dramatic sub- lethal effects as can impairs olfaction in fish… So the fish can’t “smell” stuff (needed for migration and for avoiding predators)

Attach electrodes to their olfactory rosettes (how they ‘smell’) and stimulated their olfactory response with an amino acid (L-serine)
Can use other olfaction cues too, such as conspecific alarm cues (ground up friends…)