Differences in bioaccumulation of butyltin compounds between blue mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis, and green　mussel, Perna viridis

抄録

We examined differences in the bioaccumulation of butyltin compounds (BTs) between blue mussels, Mytilus galloprovincialis, and green mussels, Perna viridis, with the expectation that these species could serve as biomonitors of the status of recovery of various regions of the Asian waters from tributyltin (TBT) contamination after the global ban on the use of organotin compounds by the International Maritime Organization. The mussels were reared for eight weeks at sites highly polluted and slightly polluted by TBT. There was no difference in the concentrations of total BTs (sum of monobutyltin, MBT; dibutyltin, DBT; and tributyltin, TBT) between the two species reared at these sites, and the total BTs (ΣBTs) reflected the TBT concentrations in the seawater at the sites. The results suggest that the ΣBTs concentrations in these two species are comparable and that transplanted mussels can be good indicators of the extent of TBT contamination in coastal waters. At both sites, the compositions of the BTs were different between the species. The ratios of the metabolites (DBT or (MBT+DBT)) to TBT were higher in blue mussels than green mussels. The difference in BTs composition seems to have been caused by interspecies differences in the potential to metabolize TBT.