Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
BULLETIN OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION AND TOXICOLOGY, cilt.79, sa.2, ss.218-220, 2007 (SCI-Expanded)
As the marine pollution increases world wide, control strategies and routine monitoring of contaminants in the marine environment are more required. Although their impact has no visible influence comparing to other pollutants heavy metal pollution can cause long-term effects on ecosystems. The bioaccumulation of contaminants in the tissues and the organs of marine organisms has been extensively studied throughout the world and led to the adoption of the bioindicator concept for the environmental quality assessment. Mussels are recognized as pollution bioindicator organisms as they accumulate pollutants in their tissues at elevated levels in relation to pollutant biological availability in the marine environment ( Bat et al. 1999; Machado et al. 1999; Vos and Hovens 1986). Trace metals including chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, strontium and zinc exist naturally in the environment and they are essential elements for living organisms. However, some trace metals such as mercury, lead and cadmium are not required for metabolic activity and can be toxic even at quite low concentrations (Cetinkaya 1996; Topcuoglu 2002).