NOAA's 'Mussel Watch' Project: Current use organic compounds in bivalves

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) established the National Status and Trends (NS&T) Mussel Watch Project in 1985 to assess th e current status and the long term trends for selected contaminants in US c oastal waters. Starting in 1994 bivalves have been analyzed for compounds n ot reported in previous years. Dicofol,alachlor, trifluralin and atrazine w ere detected in 5% of the samples and analyses were not continued. On the o ther hand, the concentrations of 1,2,4,5-tetrachlorobenzene, 1,2,3,4-tetrac hlorobenzene, pentachlorobenzene, pentachloroanisole, endosulfan and chlorp yrifos were measurable in bivalves collected from 1994 to 1997. The distrib ution of concentrations for these analytes were different from each other a nd from the pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinate d biphenyls historically measured in the NS&T project. The concentrations o f these analytes are comparatively low and some were not detected at a majo rity of sites sampled. However, continued monitoring will provide informati on on the temporal trends of these environmental contaminants and therefore should be continued. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All right s reserved.