[Biological testing of cyclic acetaldehydes and their oxidation products using mollusks]. / Biotestirovanie tsiklicheskikh atsetalei i produktov okisleniia s ispol'zovaniem molliuskov.

Toxicity of cyclic acetaldehyde and the affined compounds was studied in freshwater shellfish Planorbis spirorbis in laboratory conditions. Chronic threshold concentrations of the acetaldehyde appeared to depress the increase in total mass and to lower the content of hemolymph. Functional state of the shellfish cells changed--the share of cell deformations reaches 57%. The phenomena are traced to disorders in hemocytes membrane permeability, changes in cellular composition of hemolymph, decreased share of basophilic and increased share of oxyphilic cells in hemolymph. Thus, studies of toxicity should include both traditional examination and thorough hematologic evaluation.

[The use of ground mollusks in the evaluation of environmental pollution with heavy metals in the city of Ufa]. / Primenenie nazemnykh molluskov dlia otsenki zagriazneniia territorii g. Ufy tiazhelymi metallami.

The authors analyzed soil and cochleae of bush snails in Ufa for heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd) content. Zn and Cu content of the soil exceeds the background levels and approaches the MACs. Pb and Cd content corresponds to their usual content of soil. The coefficients of Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd pass from soil to cochleae of bush snails increase in the row Pb < Zn < Cu < Cd and never outnumber 1.