Using Heavy Metal Content and Lipid Peroxidation Indicators in the Tissues of the Mussel Crenomytilus grayanus for Pollution Assessment After Marine Environmental Remediation

We examined the effects of environmental remediation on the heavy metal concentration and lipid peroxidation activity in the digestive gland and gills of the marine mussel Crenomytilus grayanus . Changes in heavy metal concentrations and lipid peroxidation biomarkers in the tissues of mussels collected at a contaminated site were compared with those obtained from a reference site. Prior to remediation the concentration of Pb, Cu, Cd, Fe and Zn and the levels of malondialdehyde, conjugated dienes and lipofuscin in mussels collected from the contaminated site were significantly increased compared with those obtained from the reference site. Three years after remediation, these parameters did not significantly exceed the reference site parameters, except Pb, whose concentration, though markedly decreased, yet was much higher than in tissues of mussels from the reference site.