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BIOACCUMULATION OF PCB CONGENERS BY BLUE MUSSELS DEPLOYED IN NEW BEDFORD HARBOR, MA
Citation:
Bergen, B.J., W. Nelson, AND R. Pruell. BIOACCUMULATION OF PCB CONGENERS BY BLUE MUSSELS DEPLOYED IN NEW BEDFORD HARBOR, MA. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-94/003 (NTIS PB94140779), 1993.
Description:
Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) were deployed to monitor the levels of bioavailable contaminants during a pilot dredging project in New Bedford Harbor (NBH), Massachusetts. issolved and particulate seawater samples also were collected periodically during these deployments. olychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congener concentrations in both mussel tissue and seawater samples were among the quantified contaminants. arge differences in the dissolved and particulate PCB concentrations in seawater and tissue residue concentrations in mussels were observed along a gradient from the upper harbor to Buzzards Bay. ioconcentration factors (BCFS) were calculated for six PCB congeners at two stations in NBH and a reference site in Buzzards Bay. quations were generated relating the log BCF to the log octanol/water partition coefficient (Kow) for these congeners. onsistent relationship was found between dissolved PCB congener concentrations and tissue concentrations in the mussels. his study demonstrates the utility of the blue mussel as a monitoring organism for quantifying bioavailable contaminants in seawater and for relating PCB tissue residues with seawater concentrations.