Micro-organic pollutants and biological response of mussels in marinas and ship building/breaking yards in Turkey.

Concentrations of PAHs, PCBs and OCPs in sediments and mussels (caged and/or native) were determined at 16 stations in six major sites of coastal Turkey. The biological effects of pollution were evaluated using sediment toxicity tests and enzyme activity assays. EROD, PROD, GST, AChE, CaE, and GR activities were evaluated using the digestive glands of mussels. The total PAH concentrations in the sediments varied between nd and 79,674 ng g(-1) dw, while the total OCP concentrations were in the range of nd to 53.7 ng g(-1) dw. The total PAH concentrations in mussels varied between 22.3 and 37.4 ng g(-1) ww. The average concentrations of total PCBs in mussels were 2795 pg g(-1) ww in the shipyard, 797 pg g(-1) ww in Marina 2 and 53 pg g(-1) ww in Marina 1 stations. The results of whole-sediment toxicity tests showed a strong correlation between toxicity test results and pollutant concentrations. Selected cytosolic enzyme activities in digestive glands differed significantly depending on localities. These differences in enzyme activities were mainly related to the different pollutant levels of the sampling sites. The micro-organic contaminant profile patterns, toxicity tests and biomarker studies showed that shipyards and shipbreaking yards are the major potential sources of organic pollution in coastal areas.

Use of passive samplers in pollution monitoring: a numerical approach for marinas.

Triolein-containing semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) and butyl rubber (BR) based sorbents were employed as passive samplers in 14 coastal stations of Turkey including shipyards and marinas to characterize time-integrated levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and their relationship to potential pollution sources. Passive samplers of SPMDs and BR sorbents were deployed for 30days in the spring of 2012. The maximum concentrations of total PAH and PCB compounds sequestered by SPMDs were 3338 ng g(-1) SPMD and 4247 pg g(-1) SPMD. (END)-I and DDT-related compounds were dominant OCP compounds for most of the sites in passive samplers. Total PAH concentrations in SPMDs were found 1.2 to 8 times higher than the concentrations in BRs. However, BR sorbents were able to sample some PAHs which could not be sampled by SPMDs. The concentrations of PCBs and OCPs in BRs were similar or higher than SPMDs. SPMD-data were used to estimate the average ambient water concentrations of the contaminants. Two existing theoretical approaches have been used to derive the concentrations of hydrophobic pollutants in the ambient waters. The results were found very similar and range from 7318 to 183864 pg L(-1) for PAHs, from 2 to 186 pg L(-1) for PCBs, and from 98 to 848 pg L(-1) for OCPs. Furthermore, a simple numerical model was designed to estimate the boat-related water concentrations in marinas by using the seawater data supplied by SPMDs. The model was mainly built on the water concentration and the capacities of a particular marina and then applied to two sites in the second marina. A good correlation was found between the model outputs and SPMD-water data.

Water concentrations of PAH, PCB and OCP by using semipermeable membrane devices and sediments.

Water concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were estimated from semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) and from sediment pollutant concentrations. SPMDs were deployed in the Istanbul Strait and Marmara Sea and retrieved after 7 and 21 days. Performance reference compounds (PRCs) were used to determine the site-specific sampling rates of the compounds. Water concentrations (C(w)) of the analyzed compounds estimated by using two different calculation methods for SPMDs were found similar. C(w) of total PAHs estimated from SPMDs (C(w-spmd)) were found between 13 and 79 ng L⁻¹ and between 7.0 and 68 ng L⁻¹ for 7 and 21 days of deployments respectively. Water concentrations of PCBs using sediment data was found as between 0.001 and 11.0 ng L⁻¹. The highest value of C(w-spmd) for two deployments were 2.8 ng L⁻¹ for OCPs. C(w) estimated from sediment concentrations were generally higher than those estimated from SPMDs.

PCB and PCDD/F in sediments and mussels of the Istanbul strait (Turkey).

Sediment and mussel samples collected along the coasts of the Istanbul strait and an island in Marmara Sea (Turkey) were analyzed for six indicator polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), 12 dioxin-like PCB (dl-PCB) and 17 polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin/furan (PCDD/F) congeners. Samples contained different concentrations of PCBs and among these, congeners 153, 75, 105 and 118 in sediments and congeners 153, 138 and 118 in mussels were most abundant. The concentration levels of total PCBs and PCDD/Fs in sediments ranged from 17.9 to 539746 pg g(-1)dm and 2.04 to 60.5 pg g(-1)dm, respectively. The total WHO-TEQ values ranged between 0.01 and 17.8 pg g(-1)dm in sediments, and 0.98 and 1.01 pg g(-1)ww in mussels. None of the sediment and mussel samples analyzed exceeded the limits suggested in the sediment quality guideline and safe values set by the European Community for seafood intended for human consumption, respectively.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and effects on marine organisms in the Istanbul Strait.

Surficial sediments and mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) from the Istanbul Strait and Marmara Sea were analysed for sixteen parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contents by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) employing isotope dilution technique. Microalgae toxicity testing was applied to sediment elutriates and biological responses in terms of filtration rate and lysosomal stability were measured in mussels. Total PAH concentrations ranged from 2.1 to 3152 ng g(-1) dry wt in sediments and from 43-601 ng g(-1) wet weight in mussels. Molecular indices of phenanthrene/ anthracene, fluoranthene/pyrene and benzo(a)anthracene/chrysene were used to differentiate between pyrolytic and petroleum origin. Results showed that most of the contamination originates from high temperature pyrolytic inputs with some slight contribution of petrogenic PAH. PAH in sediments were frequently lower than the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-ERM (Effects Range Medium) index. Results of sediment elutriate toxicity testing and biomarkers indicate that the cause of negative effects in sediments may result from different classes of pollutants and does not only relate with PAH contamination. Mussels from most of the stations showed both reduced lysosomal membrane stability and filtration rate indicating disturbed health although the two biomarker results did not always complement each other. The effect studies showed that the pollutants in the strait ecosystem have more pronounced effects in the middle parts than those at the Black Sea entrance.