engleski

Temporal and spatial distribution of chlorinated hydrocarbons in mussels from the Kaštela Bay (Adriatic Sea)

The Kaštela Bay is one of the most polluted area on the east Adriatic coast. This is due to specific characteristics of the Bay (it's a semi-enclosed with an average retention of one month), which is a recipient of the most of untreated urban and all industrial wastewaters of the relatively densely populated area (350.000 inhabitants). In order to evaluate the pollution level of the Kaštela Bay by chlorinated hydrocarbons and to assess the health risk of the consumption of shellfish species from the Bay, a monitoring programme was initiated in September 2000. Mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) of the same size and age were transplanted from the very clean area of the Mali Ston Bay to four stations in the Kaštela Bay. Every two months (until May 2001) mussels were sampled and analyzed on chlorinated pesticides (DDT, DDE, DDD) and polychlorinated biphenyls (Arochlor 1254, Arochlor 1260) (PCBs) contents. Chlorinated hydrocarbons were determined using a capillary column gas chromatography with an electron capture detector, after a Soxhlet extraction from lyophilised and homogenised samples. The analytical procedure was tested using a standard reference material (IAEA 142). Obtained results show a significant increase of concentration of chlorinated hydrocarbons in the mussels transplanted to the Kaštela Bay, indicating its contamination by chlorinated hydrocarbons. The average concentration of chlorinated pesticides increased from 2, 9 to 6, 0 ng/g d.w., while the PCBs concentration increased from 13, 5 to 59, 3 ng/g d.w. The spatial distribution of the concentration of chlorinated pesticides is uniform, without significant temporal changes, while the PCBs concentration show significant spatial and temporal changes. This is related, after considering hydrographic characteristics of the Bay, to different sources of contamination. The comparison of the obtained results with maximum permissible levels (MPLs) of chlorinated hydrocarbons in mussels shows that established concentrations are far bellow MPLs, indicating that the consumption of these organisms is not harmful for humans.

chlorinated hydrocarbons; mussels; Kaštela Bay

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