Effect of Potassium Ethylxanthate and Sodium Diethyldithiocarbamate on the Accumulation and Disposition of Nickel in the Brown Trout (Salmo Trutta)

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Abstract
Brown trouts, Salmo trutta, were exposed to water containing 0.1 or 10 μg/1 of 63Ni2+, alone or with potassium ethylxanthate or sodium diethyldithiocarbamate. After one and three weeks the accumulation and disposition of the 63Ni2+ in the fish were examined by liquid scintillation spectrometry and whole-body autoradiography. The sodium diethyldithiocarbamate was found to greatly enhance the uptake of 63Ni2+ in several tissues of the trouts. Potassium ethylxanthate was without effect. Diethyldithiocarbamate is known to form lipophilic complexes with metals, including nickel, and a facilitated penetration of the complexed nickel over the cellular membranes of the gills and other tissues is a likely mechanism underlying our results. The ethylxanthate is also able to form a lipophilic nickel-chelate, although of a lower lipophilicity than the nickel-diethyldithiocarbamate-complex. This variance in lipophilicity may explain why the disposition of the 63Ni2+ was affected by the diethyldithiocarbamate, but not by the ethylxanthate.