Lysosomal responses as a sensitive stress index in biomonitoring heavy metal pollution

Abstract

Lysosomal responses in digestive cells of Mytilus galloprovincialis, collected from a relatively clean area (La Spezia, Italy) and a heavy metal polluted one (Scarlino, Italy), were tested. Observations confirm the sensitivity of lysosomes to metal pollutants and support the utility of stress indices based on the responses of these organelles in biomonitoring. -from Author