Comparison of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon levels in mussels and oysters in France and the United States.
This paper compares data of 15 individual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations from two monitoring programs: the French Rdseau National d'Observation de la qualité du milieu marin (RNO) and the Mussel Watch project of the U.S. National Status and Trends (NST) program. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon measurements in bivalve (mussels and oysters) are made from samples collected at 265 sites along the U.S. coastline and at 97 sites in the French coastal waters. Individual PAH patterns were found strikingly similar between the two countries with higher concentrations for high-molecular-weight (HMW) PAHs. Principal component analysis results for both RNO and NST show the variability to be dominated by just two components with HMW compounds contributing primarily to the first and low-molecular-weight (LMW) compounds to the second. This could imply a separation of petrogenic and pyrolytic sources with the latter being the more important in both nations accounting for the similarity in results.
IFREMER, Nantes, France. benoit.beliaeff@ifremer.fr
Benoit
B
Beliaeff
Thomas P
TP
O'Connor
Catherine
C
Munschy
Bernard
B
Raffin
Didier
D
Claisse
D000818:Animals; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000737:chemistry*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005602:France; D008970:Molecular Weight; D010125:Ostreidae / Q000737:chemistry*; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014481:United States; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical