Western Mediterranean coastal waters—Monitoring PCBs and pesticides accumulation in Mytilus galloprovincialis by active mussel watching: the Mytilos project

Alfonso Scarpato; Giulia Romanelli; Francois Galgani; Bruno Andral; Marina Amici; Pierpaolo Giordano; Josep Caixach; Monica Calvo; Juan Antonio Campillo; José Benedicto Albadalejo; Alessandro Cento; Samir BenBrahim; Cherif Sammari; Salud Deudero; Mostefa Boulahdid; Franco Giovanardi

doi:10.1039/B920455E

Western Mediterranean coastal waters—Monitoring PCBs and pesticides accumulation in Mytilus galloprovincialis by active mussel watching: the Mytilos project

Alfonso Scarpato,^a Giulia Romanelli,^a Francois Galgani,^b Bruno Andral,^b Marina Amici,^a Pierpaolo Giordano,^a Josep Caixach,^d Monica Calvo,^d Juan Antonio Campillo,^c José Benedicto Albadalejo,^c Alessandro Cento,^f Samir BenBrahim,^g Cherif Sammari,^h Salud Deudero,^e Mostefa Boulahdidⁱ and Franco Giovanardi^a

Author affiliations

^a Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ex ICRAM), Via di Casalotti 300, Roma, Italy

^b IFREMER. Laboratoire Environment Ressource Provence Azur Corse, BP 330, La Seyne sur Mer Cedex, France

^c Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Murcia, C/Varadero 1, San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain

^d Chemical and Environmental Research Institute of Barcelona of Spanish National Research Council (IIQAB-CSIC), Jordi Girona, 18-26, Barcelona, Spain

^e Laboratorio de Biología Marina and GOI-IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Guillén Colom, Campus Universitari, Ctra. de Valdemosa, km 7.5, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

^f Parco Scientifico e Tecnologico della Sicilia (PSTS), Z.I. Blocco Palma, s.s. G. Agnelli, Catania, Sicilia, Italy

^g Institut National de Recherche Halieutique (INRH), 2, rue de Tiznit, Casablanca, Morocco

^h Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer (INSTM), Port de pêche la Goulette, Tunis, Tunisie

ⁱ Institut National des Sciences de la Mer et des l'Aménagement du littoral (ISMAL), Mois des cars, BP 19, Alger, Algeria

Abstract

In order to evaluate the contamination levels in the Western Mediterranean basin, the active mussel watch methodology has been applied. This methodology consists of mussel transplantation (Mytilus galloprovincialis) from non impacted areas to selected coastal areas, characterised by potential impact from the continent due to contaminating sources. The areas of interest were selected along the entire coastal development of the Western Mediterranean sea, 122 sites in total. The time of mussel caging exposure was 12 weeks. The project was co-financed in the frame of the Interreg IIIB Meddoc Programme, aimed at determining the overall chemical quality of the Mediterranean sea, consistent with the Water Framework Directive 2000/60. Several partners representative of the coastal Mediterranean Countries were involved in the Project, with the purpose of building up a common surveillance network, adopting shared methodologies. In this paper we present the results of three yearly monitoring campaigns (2004, 2005, 2006) carried out along the coasts of Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, including the coastal environment of Baleares, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica. The contamination levels of Pesticides (DDT and its metabolites, Hexachlorocyclohexane isomers α and γ) and Polychlorinated biphenyls, are reported and discussed. Statistical elaborations performed on the original data set were mainly aimed at validating the raw sample distributions, by means of the Johnson method. Both DD and PCB species frequency distributions have been approximated to appropriate theoretical distributions, belonging to the Log-normal and Bounded families. By integrating the related Probability Density Functions (p.d.f.), different accumulation values for DDT, DDD and DDE and PCB species have been estimated, corresponding to fixed percentage points of the area under the respective curves. By choosing appropriate probability level boundaries (33rd and 66th percentile), different regional zones have been ranked in terms of low, medium and high accumulation for Pesticides and PCBs.

Journal of Environmental Monitoring

Western Mediterranean coastal waters—Monitoring PCBs and pesticides accumulation in Mytilus galloprovincialis by active mussel watching: the Mytilos project

Abstract

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Western Mediterranean coastal waters—Monitoring PCBs and pesticides accumulation in Mytilus galloprovincialis by active mussel watching: the Mytilos project

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