K. Granby et Nh. Spliid, HYDROCARBONS AND ORGANOCHLORINES IN COMMON MUSSELS FROM THE KATTEGAT AND THE BELTS AND THEIR RELATION TO CONDITION INDEXES, Marine pollution bulletin, 30(1), 1995, pp. 74-82
The pollution loads by hydrocarbons and some organochlorines have been
investigated in common mussels (Mytilus edulis L.) from the Inner Dan
ish Waters. The ranges of pollutant concentrations were 7.5-108 mug g-
1 wet wt for paraffin-naphthene(p-n-)-hydrocarbons, 10-111 ng g-1 wet
wt (SIGMA14 PAH) for polyaromatic hydrocarbons, 3-328 ng g-1 wet wt (S
IGMA7 chlorobiphenyl) for polychlorinated biphenyls, 2.4-67 ng g-1 wet
wt for SIGMADDT, 0.3-3.1 ng g-1 wet wt for alpha-HCH, 0.6-7.4 ng g-1
wet wt for gamma-HCH and 0.05-.0.74 ng g-1 wet wt for HCB. An interpre
tation of the physiological parameter, the condition index (measured a
s the ratio of dry weight of soft tissue to (shell length)3 and 'norma
lized' with respect to shell length) in relation to the lipid content
showed a good correlation (r = 0.76, p = 0.0001). The condition index
showed a significant negative correlation with the polyaromatic hydroc
arbons (SIGMA14 PAH, r = -0.48, p = 0.01) and a weaker negative correl
ation with the p-n-hydrocarbons (r = -0.36, p = 0.08).