Bioconcentration of eight metals by the mussel Mytilus edulis in Boston Harbor

The purpose of this study was to develop a mathematical model which relates the rate of bioconcentration of metals by the mussel Mytilus edulis with the concentration of labile metal in the surrounding seawater. It has been shown by Robinson and Ryan (1988) that not only is the mussel Mytilus edulis a qualitative indicator of marine pollution but, can also be used as a quantitative tool to estimate a particular contaminants seawater concentration. This can be done by examining the relationship between rate of accumulation and seawater concentration for a particular species. Studies such as the one done by Ritz et al. (1982) in which groups of Mytilus edulis were exposed to various concentrations of metals for a certain length of time, showed that the relationship between the rate of metal bioconcentration and metal seawater concentration was linear. Therefore by using the equation of the line it is possible to determine a particular metal's average seawater concentration by simply determining its rate of bioconcentration. A metal's rate of bioconcentration at a particular site can be determined by conducting a mussel transplant study. These studies involve transplanting groups of mussels taken from a clean site to a polluted site. By using literature derived bioaccumulation equations, a particular metal's average seawater concentration can then be determined. In this study the mathematical relationships described above will be tested by conducting field studies involving transplanted mussels.