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Use of sedimentary metals to predict metal concentrations in black mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) tissue and risk to human health (Sydney estuary, Australia)

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Abstract

Filter-feeding bivalves have been used extensively as an indicator of ecosystem condition and in management of estuarine environments. The current study aimed to determine whether sedimentary metals could predict metal concentrations in tissue of filter-feeding mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and to identify areas of the estuary where mussel consumption posed a human health risk. Mussel tissue Cu and Zn concentrations (wet weight) were below guideline values for human consumption in all parts of the waterway, whereas Pb tissue concentrations exceed these guidelines (2.0 μg g−1 wet weight) in the upper reaches of some embayments of the estuary. Concentrations of Cu and Pb in the fine fraction (<62.5 μm) of bottom sediment reasonably predicted concentrations (dry weight) of these metals in mussel tissue (r 2 = 0.460 and p = 0.001 and r 2 = 0.669 and p < 0.0001, respectively) as these materials are resuspendable and available to filter-feeding estuarine animals, whereas total sediment and mussel tissue were poorly related. Lead concentrations (>350 μg g−1) in fine sediments indicated areas of this estuary where human health was at risk due to high tissue concentrations of this metal. These results give encouragement for the use of the metal concentration in fine sediments as an indicator of estuarine condition and risk to human health in this waterway. Mussels were distributed in all parts of the estuary, even in areas where metal concentrations exceeded sediment quality guidelines.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Tom Savage and Tim Hogg for laboratory assistance and chemical analyses and Marco Olmos and Jung-ho Lee for GIS support. We thank three anonymous reviewers for useful comments which greatly improved the quality of the original manuscript.

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  1. Environmental Geology Group, School of Geosciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    G. F. Birch & C. Apostolatos

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  1. G. F. Birch
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  2. C. Apostolatos
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Correspondence to G. F. Birch.

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Responsible editor: Stuart Simpson

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Birch, G.F., Apostolatos, C. Use of sedimentary metals to predict metal concentrations in black mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) tissue and risk to human health (Sydney estuary, Australia). Environ Sci Pollut Res 20, 5481–5491 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1538-8

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