The use of Mytilus spp. mussels as bioindicators of heavy metal pollution in the coastal environment. A review

The oceans and seas with high population density are submitted to numerous anthropogenic pressures: among them, the chemical pollution by heavy metals. these pollutants, coming from our continental activities, are transported through rivers or by air and accumulate in seas and oceans where they mainly affect coastal areas. during the 70^ies, scientist suggested to use organisms, in particular mussels of the genus mytilus, as bioindicator, in order to evaluate the status of chemical contamination of coastal ecosystems. mussels like the genus mytilus are widely considered as one of the most suitable sentinels and biological indicators of pollution since they possess a multitude of useful characteristics for this purpose: sessile filter feeders that accumulate contaminants in their tissues; exhibit low ability to metabolize organic contaminants; have stable local populations in many places; and have a wide array of sensitive biomarker tools available. the heavy metal concentrations in the mytilus spp. reflect the coastal water concentrations in which they live. since they living organisms, metal uptake and bioaccumulation may also affected by a number of biotic and abiotic factors such as: body size, location within the intertidal zone, the time of collection, the temperature, the salinity, and the ph. these influences must be identified and measured, so that they may be taken into account during sampling, validation of results, or in the interpretation of monitoring data. we concluded that mytilus spp. was a sensitive bioindicator for monitoring of the past and the present coastal pollution by heavy metals. therefore provides a global view of the health status of the coastal environment.