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COMPARISON OF PCB AND TRACE METAL BIOACCUMULATION IN THE BLUE MUSSEL, MYTILUS EDULIS, AND THE RIBBED MUSSEL, MODIOLUS DEMISSUS, IN NEW BEDFORD HARBOR, MASSACHUSETTS
Citation:
Nelson, W., B.J. Bergen, AND D.J. Cobb. COMPARISON OF PCB AND TRACE METAL BIOACCUMULATION IN THE BLUE MUSSEL, MYTILUS EDULIS, AND THE RIBBED MUSSEL, MODIOLUS DEMISSUS, IN NEW BEDFORD HARBOR, MASSACHUSETTS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-95/229, 1995.
Description:
The accumulation of PCBs and trace metals was compared at 14-d intervals between two filter-feeding bivalves, the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, and the ribbed mussel, Modiolus demissus, after deployment in New Bedford Harbor, Massachusetts, for up to 56 d. Contaminant uptake in deployed organisms also was compared with indigenous ribbed mussels. ignificant mortality (>80%) occurred in blue mussels after 28 d, when water temperatures exceeded 25 degrees C. herefore, tissue-residue comparisons between species are presented only up to day 28, while those between deployed and indigenous ribbed mussels continue to day 56. esults indicated that total PCB tissue residues and congener distributions were not statistically different (p>0.05) in the two mussel species on day 28. otal PCB concentrations in both deployed mussel species reached approximately 30 ug g-1 dry weight by day 28. dditionally, total PCB concentrations and congener distributions in the deployed ribbed mussels were not statistically different from the indigenous ribbed mussels on day 28, demonstrating that steady state was attained within 28 d. With respect to metal uptake, no single accumulation pattern occurred for the eight metals quantified. fter 28 d, lead, cadmium, and iron concentrations in deployed blue and ribbed mussels were statistically similar. owever, nickel and zinc accumulations were significantly greater in the blue mussels, and copper, chromium, and manganese were accumulated to significantly higher concentrations in the ribbed mussels. he comparison between the ribbed mussels indicated that cadmium and lead concentrations were significantly higher in indigenous than in deployed mussels after 28 d.