Using Heavy Metal Content and Lipid Peroxidation Indicators in the Tissues of the Mussel Crenomytilus grayanus for Pollution Assessment After Marine Environmental Remediation.

We examined the effects of environmental remediation on the heavy metal concentration and lipid peroxidation activity in the digestive gland and gills of the marine mussel Crenomytilus grayanus. Changes in heavy metal concentrations and lipid peroxidation biomarkers in the tissues of mussels collected at a contaminated site were compared with those obtained from a reference site. Prior to remediation the concentration of Pb, Cu, Cd, Fe and Zn and the levels of malondialdehyde, conjugated dienes and lipofuscin in mussels collected from the contaminated site were significantly increased compared with those obtained from the reference site. Three years after remediation, these parameters did not significantly exceed the reference site parameters, except Pb, whose concentration, though markedly decreased, yet was much higher than in tissues of mussels from the reference site.

Organic and trace metal contaminants in sediments and English sole tissues from Vancouver Harbour, Canada.

As part of a multinational workshop on marine environmental quality, sediments were collected from seven sites in Vancouver Harbour and analyzed for polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and organochlorines (OCs), and for trace metals. English sole were collected from five sites, and muscle was analyzed for trace metals and liver for OCs. As expected, sediment PAH and OC concentrations and tissue OC concentrations were higher at sites east of the First Narrows, compared to the outer harbor and reference sites. Sediment PAH concentrations east of the First Narrows were similar to concentrations at moderately contaminated sites in Puget Sound, south of Vancouver Harbour. In contrast, concentrations of OCs in sediments and tissue were low to moderate, even at relatively contaminated sites within Vancouver Harbour. Although several trace metals in sediments were higher than in contaminated sediments from Puget Sound, trace metals measured in fish muscle were lower.