DISTRIBUTION OF TRACE-ELEMENTS FROM INDUSTRIAL DISCHARGES IN THE HARDANGERFJORD, NORWAY - A MULTIVARIATE DATA-ANALYSIS OF SAITHE, FLOUNDER AND BLUE MUSSEL AS SENTINEL ORGANISMS

Arsenic, copper, zinc, cadmium, lead and mercury were determined in th e muscle and liver of two species of fish, saithe (Gadus virens) and f lounder (Platichthys flesus), and in the soft tissues of blue mussels (Mytilus edulis). These were sampled from eight locations dong the Har dangerfjord up to 100 km from the source of the pollution at the head of the fjord. Both relative and absolute amounts of the six elements d iffered between the two species of fish, and, more so, between the two tissues. The mussel contained higher amounts of the elements than the fish, The pattern of the elements was also very different in the muss el. Differences sind similarities among the various types of samples f rom the eight locations were evaluated by principal component analysis . Correlation between the six elements was also tested by this method. A concentration gradient away from the source of pollution was only f ound for arsenic in the saithe tissues, while the only gradient defect ed in flounder was for mercury in the liver tissue. In mussels the gra dient for arsenic was marginal, while gradients were detected in varyi ng degrees for the other elements. Cadmium did hot correlate with the other elements in mussels. The mussel was found to be a much better se ntinel organism for these elements, except arsenic, than the two fish species. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd