(137)Cs baseline levels in the Mediterranean and Black Sea: a cross-basin survey of the CIESM Mediterranean Mussel Watch programme.
The common mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis was selected as unique biomonitor species to implement a regional monitoring programme, the CIESM Mediterranean Mussel Watch (MMW), in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. As of today, and upon standardization of the methodological approach, the MMW Network has been able to quantify (137)Cs levels in mussels from 60 coastal stations and to produce the first distribution map of this artificial radionuclide at the scale of the entire Mediterranean and Black Seas. While measured (137)Cs levels were found to be very low (usually < 1 Bq kg(-1) wet wt) (137)Cs activity concentrations in the Black Sea and North Aegean Sea were up to two orders of magnitude higher than those in the western Mediterranean Basin. Such effects, far from representing a threat to human populations or the environment, reflect a persistent signature of the Chernobyl fallout in this area.
Thébault
Hervé
H
IRSN, LERCM, Centre Ifremer, BP 330, F-83507 La Seyne sur Mer, France.
Rodriguez Y Baena
Alessia M
AM
Andral
Bruno
B
Barisic
Delko
D
Albaladejo
José Benedicto
JB
Bologa
Alexandru S
AS
Boudjenoun
Redouane
R
Delfanti
Roberta
R
Egorov
Victor N
VN
El Khoukhi
Tahar
T
Florou
Heleni
H
Kniewald
Goran
G
Noureddine
Abdelkader
A
Patrascu
Vasile
V
Pham
Mai Khanh
MK
Scarpato
Alfonso
A
Stokozov
Nikolay A
NA
Topcuoglu
Sayhan
S
Warnau
Michel
M
D000818:Animals; D002587:Cesium Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D003625:Data Collection; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D049878:Mytilus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification*; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D011210:Power Plants; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*
D002587:Cesium Isotopes; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive