Metals and metalloids in mussels from the Argentine Patagonia

Abstract

Mussels are bioaccumulative organisms that are used to monitor marine environments. The levels of 19 metals and metalloids were determined in Mytilus edulis platensis in three sites of the San Jorge Gulf: Bahía Solano (BS), Punta Maqueda (PM) and Km 3 (KM3). The limit values of contaminants As: 16; Cd: 3.7; Cu: 10; Ni: 3.4; Pb: 3.2 and Zn: 200, in μg/g dry weight, were not reached in the sampling sites, except for Cd in PM. The principal component analysis (PCA) showed a relationship between PM and high levels of Cd, between KM3 and high levels of Al, Cu, Pb and Zn, and between BS and high levels of Be, B, Sr and Ag. These results have contributed to the establishment of the state of situation in the spring of 2010 for 19 elements, which could be used in future studies of monitoring and assessment of the environmental risk owing to metal and metalloid contamination in the coasts of Argentine Patagonia.