I. Degregori et al., VARIABILITY OF CADMIUM, COPPER AND ZINC LEVELS IN MOLLUSKS AND ASSOCIATED SEDIMENTS FROM CHILE, Environmental pollution, 92(3), 1996, pp. 359-368
The concentrations of cadmium, copper and zinc in mussel and sediment
samples collected together from eight different geographical coastal a
reas of Chile were determined. The mussels studied were 'Chorito Maico
', 'Almejas' and 'Navajuelas Chilenas' (Perumytilus purpuratus, Semell
e solida and Tagellus dombeii, respectively). Sampling was carried out
in July and September 1992 and January and April 1993 (winter, spring
, summer and autumn seasons in Chile, respectively). The metal levels
in these mussels varied among species; there were several sites where
the metal concentrations in molluscs approached or exceeded the criter
ia levels for Cd, Cu and Zn in shellfish products: 1, 10 and 50 ppm ww
respectively, which are regarded as safe levels for human consumption
. The results of metal levels in sediments showed two areas clearly po
lluted with Cu. Strong relationships between Cu concentrations in the
three molluscs and sediments were found; weak correlations were observ
ed for Zn in S. solida. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd