title: Chemical contamination baseline in the Western basin of the Mediterranean Sea based on transplanted mussels.
abstract: The MYTILOS project aimed at drawing up a preliminary report on coastal chemical contamination at the scale of the Western Mediterranean (continental coasts of the Balearic Islands, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and Maghreb) based on a transplanted mussels methodology validated along the French coasts since 1996 by Ifremer and the Rhône Méditerranée & Corsica water board. MYTILOS is backed up by the INTERREG III B/MEDOC programme, the PNUE/PAM-MEDPOL and Rhône Méditerranée & Corsica water board. Three cruises (2004, 2005, 2006) have taken place to assess the first state of chemical contamination along the Western Mediterranean shores with the same methodology. Approximately 120 days were spent at sea deploying and retrieving 123 mussel bags. The results obtained for all studied contaminants were equivalent to those obtained along the French coast according the RINBIO network. These similarities relate to both the highest measured levels and background levels throughout the 123 stations. The areas of greatest impact were mainly urban and industrial centers and the outlets of major rivers, with a far higher midsea impact on the dilution of organic compounds than on metals. Metal levels measured in midsea zones were found to be similar to those in natural shellfish populations living along the coast. On a global scale we can observe that the contaminants levels in the Mediterranean Sea are in the same range as in other areas worldwide. Overall, the research demonstrates the reliability of this methodology for marine pollution monitoring, especially in the Mediterranean sea.
authors.affiliation: IFREMER, Laboratoire Environnement Ressource Provence Azur Corse, BP 330-83507, La Seyne sur Mer Cedex, France. bruno.andral@ifremer.fr
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Andral
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Galgani
authors.forename: Corinne
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tomasino
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bouchoucha
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blottiere
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scarpato
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Benedicto
authors.forename: Salud
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deudero
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Calvo
authors.forename: Alexandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cento
authors.forename: Samir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Benbrahim
authors.forename: Moustapha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boulahdid
authors.forename: Cherif
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sammari
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D056667:Biometric Identification / Q000379:methods; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D049878:Mytilus / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical