B. De Witte, L. Devriese, K. Bekaert, S. Hoffman, G. Vandermeersch, K.
Cooreman, J. Robbens, Quality assessment of the blue mussel (Mytilus
edulis): Comparison between commercial and wild types, Marine Pollution
Bulletin, Volume 85, Issue 1, 15 August 2014, Pages 146-155, ISSN
0025-326X, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.06.006.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X14003671)
Abstract: This study compared species identity, microplastics, chemical
and microbial contamination between consumption mussels and wild type
mussels, collected at Belgian department stores and Belgian groynes and
quaysides, respectively. Species identification based on genetic
analysis showed a high number of Mytilus (M.) edulis compared to M.
galloprovincialis and M. edulis/galloprovincialis hybrid mussels. The
number of total microplastics varied from 2.6 to 5.1 fibres/10 g of
mussel. A higher prevalence of orange fibres at quaysides is related to
fisheries activities. Chemical contamination of polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons and polychlorobiphenyls could be related to industrial
activities and water turbidity, with maximum concentrations at the
quayside of port Zeebrugge. The inverse was noted for Escherichia coli
contamination, which was relatively low at Zeebrugge quayside with a
total count of 3.9 × 102 CFU/100 g tissue, due to limited agricultural
effluents. Results of this complementary analysis stress the importance
of integrated monitoring and quality assessment.
Keywords: Mytilus edulis; Mussels; PAH; PCB; E. coli; Microplastics