Relationships between polychlorinated biphenyls in molluscs, hydrological characteristics and human pressures, within Basque estuaries (northern Spain)

Interannual variability of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), measured in the soft tissues of Mytilus galloprovincialis mussels and Crassostrea gigas oysters, collected from estuarine waters within the Basque Country (Bay of Biscay), are investigated. Samples were collected in the autumn, between 200...

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Published inChemosphere (Oxford) Vol. 118; pp. 130 - 135
Main Authors Solaun, O, Rodríguez, J G, Borja, A, Larreta, J, Valencia, V
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.01.2015
Subjects
Animals
Autumn
Brackish
Congeners
Crassostrea - chemistry
Crassostrea - metabolism
Crassostrea gigas
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Estuaries
Freshwater
Humans
Hydrology
Marine
Mussels
Mytilus - chemistry
Mytilus - metabolism
Mytilus galloprovincialis
Oysters
Polychlorinated biphenyls
Polychlorinated Biphenyls - analysis
River flow
Sampling
Spain
Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis
Spain
ANE, Spain, Pais Vasco, Vizcaya, Bilbao
ANE, Europe, Biscay Bay
PCBs
Molluscs
Basque Country
Hydrological characteristics
Sediments
Human pressures
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Summary:Interannual variability of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), measured in the soft tissues of Mytilus galloprovincialis mussels and Crassostrea gigas oysters, collected from estuarine waters within the Basque Country (Bay of Biscay), are investigated. Samples were collected in the autumn, between 2002 and 2011. Sites located within the ports of Bilbao and Pasaia showed the highest PCBs concentrations in molluscs; the lowest were observed in the mouth of the Oka estuary, an area of low population and industrial activity. Congener profiles of PCBs in the tissues of molluscs reveal the predominance of hexachlorobiphenyls (CB153 and CB138). In addition, redundancy analysis has shown that residence time, river flow and a 'pressure index' explain 57% of the variability in the PCB congener concentrations (the higher the values of these variables, the higher the concentration). Finally, Σ7PCB median concentrations in molluscs and sediments, collected from nearby sampling sites, were found to be moderately correlated (r(2)=0.513, p<0.01).
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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content type line 23
ISSN:0045-6535
1879-1298
DOI:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2014.07.053