Seasonal, spatial and inter-annual variations of trace metals in mussels from the Adriatic sea: A regional gradient for arsenic and implications for monitoring the impact of off-shore activities

Heavy Metals in Seafood Mussels. Risks for Human Health

“…Among the environmental pollutants, trace metals represent natural constituents in tissues of marine organisms and their basal levels can be affected by marked seasonal fl uctuations. Several environmental and biological factors mutually compete to determine such variations, Fattorini et al ( 2008 ) . Mussels are sedentary organisms, long-lived, easily identifi ed and sampled, reasonably abundant and available throughout the year, tolerant of natural environmental fl uctuations and pollution.…”

“…Some large variations in the Cd, Pb, Hg and As concentrations in M. galloprovincialis from this extensive analyzed region were observed due to the different ages, feeding behaviors and different geographical areas with different natural and anthropological impacts. Important factors which modulate the bioavailability and tissue burden of these pollutant metals include fl uctuations of temperature, phytoplanktonic blooms and organic matter, the presence of nutrients, waters fl uxes and circulation, up-welling phenomena, freshwater inputs, and also intrinsic species-specifi c features, such as the phase of reproductive cycle and the associated changes in the relative tissue composition, Fattorini et al ( 2008 ) .…”

“…The distribution of Pb in a marine environment is controlled by atmospheric deposition; the concentration of excess Pb in marine organisms is directly linked to human activities, Besada et al ( 2002 ) . A study of the spatial distribution of chemical contaminants realized using mussels allowed the identifi cation of clear hot spots along the Spanish coastline, Fattorini et al ( 2008 ) . Along the French Mediterranean coast, the Cd concentrations were in the same order of magnitude as in the open sea and in lagoons (mean value: 1.1 mg/kg), with the exception of one lagoon with concentrations of up to 4.5 mg/kg.…”

Monitoring of Impacts of Offshore Platforms in the Adriatic Sea (Italy)

“…There are some studies on biomarkers related to the monitoring protocol of Adriatic gas platforms (e.g. Gorbi et al 2007Gorbi et al , 2008Fattorini et al, 2008). In these papers some analyses are reported as main biomarkers for monitoring impacts of offshore platforms in the Adriatic Sea.…”

Arsenic speciation in polychaetes (Annelida) and sediments from the intertidal mudflat of Sundarban mangrove wetland, India

“…Inorganic arsenic (iAs) (arsenate As III and arsenite As V ) usually predominate in the abiotic matrices, while methylated and more complex organo-arsenic compounds, are generally found in tissues of living organisms, thus probably representing the final products of detoxification processes (Phillips, 1990;Fattorini et al, 2008). The present findings also endorse the phenomenon where iAs exclusively predominate in the sediments (86 to 100%), with only a trace amount of DMA and MA in some of the samples, suggesting a relatively low biotransformation due to microorganism activity.…”