This study was primarily designed to contribute to the debate "Do accumulator species reflect the element contamination level of their environment?" This research was carried out: 1) to know the distribution of 15 trace elements and calcium in shell and soft tissues of three species of freshwater mussels and macrophytes; 2) to compare the accumulation capacity of each trace element by mussels and by eight species of macrophytes and 3) to test the relationships between the metal concentrations in the mussels and macrophytes and those in water and sediments. The variability of element residues in the mussels is the major limit to accumulator monitoring. The most important causes are: seasonal cycle, physical environment and biological factors such as the size, age and growth rate. This research was designed to eliminate the consequence of variability deriving from the season and the environment. To this end the mussels and macrophytes were collected at the same time from the same habitat: Ranco Bay, Lago Maggiore, Northern Italy. In addition, the element concentrations in more size-classes of the most abundant mussel species (Unio pictorum and Dreissena polymorpha) were measured. Trace elements were analyzed by Inductive Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). By arranging the data in sequences of decreasing element concentrations in the organisms as well as in water and sediments, we were able to compare the accumulating ability of the tested species and evaluate their capacity to reflect environmental availability. Neither the sequences in the shell nor those in the tissues were similar to the sequence in the water. The differences between the sequences of the mussel tissues and those of the sediments were less striking than those between shells and sediments. Similar results were obtained by macrophytes. In conclusion, the results of this study (which mimics the monitoring practice) prove that bioaccumulators cannot be used to evaluate the pollutant levels of the environment at the time of collection, since no relationship between metal concentrations in the species and those in the water was found and the relationship with the sediments was very weak. Bioaccumulators can be regarded as a useful tool in long-term studies to follow pollutant variations in the same environment or when substantial differences in pollutant concentrations in different environments were found. This monitoring method yields reliable results to detect new pollutants contaminating the environment, such as artificial radioisotopes, or to follow year to year variations by analyzing pollutant concentrations in the shell layers

This paper is a short review on the biomonitoring of aquatic environments by animal and plant species accumulators of toxic pollutants ("scavengers")

To assess the impact of lake trophy on trace element accumulation by Unio pictorum mancus, a population from the mesooligotrophic Lake Maggiore was compared with a population from the eutrophic Lake Candia. The element content in soft tissue and shell biomass, the seasonal variations of element concentrations in soft tissues and shell, and the relationship between element concentrations in the water and those in the tissues were estimated in pursuit of this objective. Thirteen mussel samplings were performed in Lake Maggiore between May 2003 and September 2004 and in Lake Candia between June 2003 and August 2004. Filtered water samples were collected seasonally. Water, shell and soft tissue samples were analysed by ICP-OES and ICP-MS for the measurement of following elements: Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, As, Pb, Co, Cr, Mo, V, Cd, Be and Ca. The element concentrations in the mussel tissues and shell from Lake Maggiore were higher than those from Lake Candia. Due to the higher population density and higher element concentrations in the mussels of Lake Maggiore, the element content in the biomass per m2 in this lake far exceeded that in Lake Candia. The element concentrations in the mussel tissues, but not in their shells, of both lakes showed a seasonal pattern of variation; this was to be expected as a result of the slower turnover time of the elements in the shell than in the tissues. For all the elements, except Mo, Cr and Be, the "concentration factor" (C.F.) value was higher in Lake Maggiore than in Lake Candia mussels, ranging from 10 to 104 and 10 to 103 respectively. The higher concentrations in the mussel tissues from Lake Maggiore were justified not merely by the higher element concentrations in the lake water, but probably also because other causes, such as element concentrations in food and element abundance in available forms, combine to affect the concentrations of the elements in the tissues

This research aims to test the reliability of environmental monitoring by bioaccumulators of pollutants; that is to establish a positive relationship between the pollutant concentrations in the bioaccumulator and those in the water in which it lives. To this end we analysed the contents of Al, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn and Ca in the soft tissues and shell of Unio pictorum mancus. The filtered water samples from the mussel habitat were analysed for the same metals. The mussels were collected from 15 stations settled in 12 Northern Italian lakes during the first two weeks of July 2001. These results were obtained: a) metal concentrations varied widely with mussel size and among stations; b) a significant positive correlation between the concentration of calcium in the water and in the mussel tissues, but no relationship emerged for the other metals; c) no relationship between the metal concentrations in the tissues and those in the shell was found; d) there was a certain tendency for Mn, Fe and Zn concentrations in the soft tissues to increase with shell size; e) the sequence of the decreasing metal concentrations arranged for the tissues was similar to that of the shell, but rather different from that in the water; and f) the concentration factor values of the trace metals were high for the shell and soft tissues. In highly productive lakes large size mussels dominated, whereas small mussels were more abundant in low productive lakes. Although the metal concentrations in the water of productive lakes were greater than in low productive ones, the metal concentrations in the tissues of the mussels from the latter were generally higher than those in the mussels from the former. We propose some hypotheses to explain this paradox. Finally, our results show that the metal concentrations in the mussels do not reflect the metal concentrations in the water in which they live. It follows that this commonly used but oversimplified monitoring system cannot be recommended. On the other hand mussels may be very useful for other purposes, such as identifying new pollutants or pollutants present in such low concentrations that they cannot be measured with the commonly used methods. The pollutant content of mussels may enable the variations in time of the pollutant level of an environment to be monitored. In addition, the transplantation of mussels from a clean site to a polluted one may be a useful tool for identify the pollutants of the receiving environment

Samples of Unio pictorum mancus collected monthly from spring 2003 to summer 2004 in the meso-oligotrophic Lake Maggiore and the eutrophic Lake Candia were compared to evaluate the influence of lake trophic conditions on mussel populations. Shell form, maximum age (8 years) and percentage of organic matter in the shell and soft tissues were similar in both lakes. However, comparisons between same size classes revealed that mussels from Lake Maggiore were generally older, their shells heavier and their soft tissues lighter than those from Lake Candia. Recruitment occurred in both populations in June-July. The frequency distributions of adult mussels (>30 mm) and their soft tissues and shell biomasses in all size classes (range = 2 mm) were normal, but the curves of the mussels from Lake Candia were flat in comparison to those of mussels from Lake Maggiore. The median body size of Lake Maggiore mussels was 58 mm, while that of the Lake Candia population was 72 mm. During the study period the population density of each lake was fairly constant, whereas the population structure, and consequently the biomass, showed seasonal variations.

Size, dry weight, ash, and concentration of C, H, N, P, and Ca of Daphnia hyalina from Lago Monate (northern Italy) have been investigated. The concentration of the elements varies with age of the individuals. Eggs have the maximum concentration of C and H, the new‐born of P, and the young of N. No seasonal variation was observed for individuals of the same size.

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