THE USE OF TRANSPLANTED CULTURED MUSSELS (MYTILUS-EDULIS) TO MONITOR POLLUTANTS ALONG THE 90-MILE-BEACH, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA .2. POLYCHLORINATED DIBENZO-P-DIOXINS AND DIBENZOFURANS

Commercially cultured strings of mussels were transplanted to five sit es along the Ninety Mile peach, Victoria, Australia, to assess the ope rational impact of an ocean outfall on bioaccumulation of dioxins and furans. The monitored outfall discharges a complex effluent containing secondary treated domestic, industrial and pulp and paper mill efflue nt as well as oil and gas production waste waters. Mussels were deploy ed twice yearly for a period of 3 years, with both pre-discharge and p ost-discharge data collected. Mussel tissue furan concentrations were generally below detection limits, whereas dioxins were detected in all tissue samples. Tissue dioxin congener profiles were similar to unpol luted seawater, with penta-, hepta- and octa-substituted dioxin congen ers being detected in the highest concentrations. Tissue concentration s of dioxins and furans in deployed mussels provided no evidence to su ggest that bioaccumulation of dioxins discharged from the ocean outfal l was occurring.