Concentrations and Discrimination of Chemically Related Metals in a Food Chain

Concentrations of the related elements calcium, strontium, barium, and lead were determined in soil extract, consumer stomach contents, and consumers in lead polluted and unpolluted areas. Discrimination against the nonessential metals relative to the nutritious metal calcium, as the metals were transferred through a trophic pathway was determined. Discrimination of metals varied systematically as a function of degree of nonessential element similarity to calcium. The existence of systematic trends of discrimination may facilitate the assessment of natural levels of some toxic elements (e.g. lead) in organisms.